The winter blues can be tough enough to deal with at the best of times, never mind during a global pandemic.
If you’re struggling with the idea of being stuck inside all winter and having to miss out on your usual holiday season activities, then try some of these tips to help you cope with the winter blues during this difficult time.
Reach Out
If you’re struggling, chances are your friends and family are too. Instead of wallowing and feeling miserably, reach out to your loved ones. Send texts, call them, arrange video calls, or go classic and send letters. Stay in touch, and talk about your worries, so you can both share how you feel and spread the load a little.
Adapt Your Traditions
If you’re feeling sad about missing out on Winter traditions, like Christmas shopping, game nights with friends, or festive baking with your nieces and nephews, find some ways to adapt them.
For example, if you usually bake cookies with your niece, agree on a recipe and bake together over Zoom. Instead of board games with friends, find a game you can play online together.
If you can still meet outside in your area, arrange to take wintery walks with friends or family members that you’d usually meet for shopping or drinks. Fill up a flask with coffee or hot chocolate, wrap up warm, and spend time together outside. If you’re nervous about seeing others, you can access a private Covid test.
Make Your Home Cosy
If you’re going to be at home more, then why not make your home as cosy as you can? Treat yourself to some lovely things for your home, like snuggly blankets, great-smelling scented candles, or some twinkling fairy lights. Make your home feel warm, welcoming, and like a lovely place to be and it won’t feel so bad having to be there more often than normal.
Decorate For Christmas
If you’re a Christmas fiend and usually find yourself having to force yourself to wait to put up your decorations, then this year is the year to give yourself permission to decorate early. If you’re going to be stuck at home, and your decorations bring you joy, then forget what other people think, and decorate early. Why not?
Take On A Hobby
It can feel hard to sit at home day after day, especially now the evenings are longer and you have more hours of darkness to fill. Now could be the ideal time to try a new hobby. You could try knitting, and make gifts for your family for Christmas. Learn to cook, or if you already love cooking, try learning a new cuisine.
Tackle your to-read list and spend the winter reading. Learn a language. If you’re stuck in the house with your family or house-mates, why not arrange a skill exchange? Perhaps you could teach your housemate to sew in exchange for them teaching how to make the perfect ramen broth, for example.