Winter is coming. And with it comes the urge to curl up at home and wonder how on earth to stay motivated in the dark winter months.
Even if you love this time of year, with it’s crisp days and cosy dark evenings, it can be hard to find the motivation to keep working on your goals.
There are some things you can try though, to keep active and motivated until spring rolls around again.
1. Set yourself some new goals
If the goals you set for yourself at the start of the year aren’t really motivating you any more, then try setting some shiny new ones.
Take a bit of time to think about what it is you want to achieve over the next 3 months and create a short list of SMART goals to work on.
This’ll give you a new focus and renewed sense of purpose, leaving you fired up and ready to get moving.
2. Get out in the fresh air
It might be the last thing you want to do on a cold morning, but try heading outside for a blast of fresh air. It can really get you feeling more motivated and productive.
Research has shown that spending time outdoors can give us more energy, boost our mood, and reduce feelings of fatigue.
So take the hit on this one.
Drag yourself out of the door and you’ll feel so much more motivated to tackle the rest of your to-do list when you get back home.
3. Create some upbeat playlists
If you find yourself feeling more down that usual in the winter months, try making some cheerful, upbeat playlists to listen to.
Blast your favourite songs as you make your coffee in the morning to get you going. Or make a playlist of energetic tracks to listen to when you head out for a walk to inspire you to pick up the pace a bit.
4. Schedule in downtime
If you want to have the motivation and energy to take on your to-do list, then you need to fit some downtime into your schedule.
Life in winter is naturally slower and it’s worth working with that at times, resting when you feel you need to. This way you’ll preserve your energy for when you need it.
So make sure you fit in some time each week to have an early night or spend the evening on the sofa with Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
5. Reward yourself
Sometime we all need a bit of external motivation to get us working on the jobs we don’t really fancy doing.
So think of fun ways you can reward yourself in the winter for getting things done.
It could be that if you head out the door for a run at lunchtime, then you’ll reward yourself with an evening of reality television.
Or it might be that you decide you’ll treat yourself to those new winter boots you’ve got your eye on after you declutter your wardrobe.
6. Make time for exercise
Like heading outside on a cold day, exercise can be the last thing you feel like doing in the winter months.
But if you can just get. it. done you’ll feel so much better for it.
There are so many benefits to exercising, and feeling happier and more energised afterwards are among those benefits.
7. Make a list
At the start of each week make a to-do list so you know what you need to tackle.
Then take a quick look over that list each morning and figure out your top 3 priorities for that day.
Sometimes not knowing what to do leads us to not actually doing anything. So having your list at hand takes away that hesitation and helps you just get started.
8. Take baby steps
If your energy levels have really taken a hit and your to-do list is making you feel overwhelmed, then see where you can break things down into baby steps.
So, if you have ‘declutter the kitchen’ on your list you could break that down into smaller tasks:
- organise the junk drawer
- clear out the spices
- clear and clean the top shelf of the fridge
and so on.
Doing just one small thing from your list can often give you the motivation to carry on and get more things done.
And on the days that doesn’t work, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve got at least one little job completed.
9. Focus on the good things about winter
When you spend all winter thinking about how cold and dark and bleak it is, then you’re bound to feel low and unmotivated.
Instead, try and turn your thoughts around.
Make a list of all the things that are great about winter. No matter how small they might seem, write them down.
Things like twinkly fairy lights, warm mince pies after a cold walk, Christmas songs on the radio, bowls of hot soup for lunch, chocolate and ginger treats, warm scarves and chunky knitted cardigans are all really lovely parts of life in the winter.
Once you shift your focus onto all the little things we can only enjoy at this time of year, you’ll start to bust out of those winter blues and feel generally happier, more motivated, and more productive.
