Slogging Feet, Sludge Brain: Tips to Defeat The Winter Doldrums

The winter doldrums are in full swing.  It’s still too dark, too gloomy, and too cold.  This time of year after the holidays is the worst.  By this point of the year, I start to generally hate everything.  This could be undiagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder, or it could be that this time of year is just crap, or both.  Hard to say.  By the end of January, I hate my winter wardrobe, because I’ve been wearing the same eight outfits since November.  My hair starts to look dull and flat.  All evidence that it ever saw the sun is gone.  Same with my skin: it is dull, pasty, and dry.  All the decorations come down, and the house feels cold and empty.  I don’t have an abundance of season-specific decorations, so after the holiday stuff comes down, it’s back up with the same ol’ same ol’.  I’m sick of cooking the same ten meals.  Ok, eight…who am I kidding?  Even the fruit at the store is out of season and sucks.

Every year, this time is such a struggle.  Some years, we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to plan a getaway somewhere south (which I HIGHLY recommend), but this year with our son now in kindergarten, it didn’t work out.  We all get cabin fever, the kids fight more, and I get way too snappy.  You’d think after 33 Januarys, that I’d somehow have some better coping techniques for the winter doldrums, but you’d be wrong.  I’m sure my June self could come up with a great list for February pick-me-ups, but my January brain is sludge.  I’d prefer to just take a nap from January 15 through March 1st, thank you very much.  But since I’m not actually an ursus americanus (American Black Bear), I need to try to slog on through.

Winter Doldrums Slogging Techniques:

1. Try to make it to the gym.  It makes my brain feel less like semi-frozen sludge and the rest of my body less like a pile of mush.
2. Book a hair appointment for mid-late January.  Worth it!
3. Go through multiple containers of body scrub.  I like Trader Joe’s Lavender Salt Scrub.  Smells dreamy and is very affordable!
4. Find a couple of books to read.  Try to squeeze in a few pages here and there.
5. Invest in quality winter gear.  I am much less crabby when I’m not freezing my butt off all the time.  Trust me, it’ll get used, and it’s worth the money.
6. Cruise the clearance section for winter stuff sometime in January.  The stores have already rolled out the swimsuits and need to make room.  While we won’t be wearing those for six months, you’ll get another two months of wear out of a couple new winter pieces, for sure.
7. Schedule extra dates with good friends.  A good friend makes even the gloomiest day bright.
8. Sit in a sunny spot in the house on one of the ten sunny winter days, exactly like a cat.
9. Take naps.  Whatever…. the bears have it figured out on this one.
10. Make good comfort food, but try to avoid a complete heavy carb coma, which just makes the lethargy worse.  My favorite this winter has been White Bean Chicken Chili–recipe below.

This is a use-what-you-have, clean-out-the-fridge kind of “recipe.”  Also, I don’t measure when I make it, so these are all approximations.  Soups are extremely forgiving.  It will be good!  This is a great way to stuff a bunch of legumes and veggies into your family, with them none-the-wiser.  You could also easily eliminate the chicken and use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian.

So there you have it!  Keep on slogging and beat the winter doldrums, friends!

Originally Posted January 2017