The leaves fell off the trees, I began to oversleep, and stay up too late. What does that mean? It’s the beginning of the end! Kidding…That hard shift into winter is rough on our good habits and best intentions. So what can we do to winterize habits that we built in the summer with all that sunshine to help us out?
Year after year I’ve plotted away at a New Year resolution with little to no thought about how things are affected by the seasons. It’s easy to say, “I want to start biking this year”. You may actually do it too. Then along comes the dark and cold evenings with their crisp winds and it’s natural to say “…guess the season is over. I’ll pick it up next spring.” Then spring rolls around and…you don’t.
Just like our houses, our habits also need some TLC before the weather turns to adjust and prepare them to sustain through the winter. Let’s take the time to anticipate the impact of the changing season on our current habits.
Planning for seasonal influence
This year I set in specific months to focus on maintaining new habits and to turn down the intensity during the short days of December and the fast moving month of November. I dove into some solid online research on how to go about winterizing my mood and goals during this coming winter. Here are some ideas on how I’m looking to implement them on my own goals.
Example 1: Winterize Food Management
Might as well start with January. In January, I challenged myself to cut my food budget in half. Apparently, I’d learned from past mistakes without knowing it. Short days are perfect for focusing on indoor activities like trying new recipes and cooking at home. The challenge was to add motivation toward what can feel like a very long month! You can read the full food budget challenge article here, but spoiler alert…I missed it, but only by a bag of tortillas.
I had a lot of solo activities in the beginning of the year and then COVID-19 and cancer in the family kept my activities fairly solo. However, as we relax our social distance a bit. This same general goal of cooking at home could involve pot lucks or trying new recipes to expand your culinary expertise!
Example 2: Winterize Making New Friends
Another goal from April, moved to September, was to make new friends. People are typically very busy in the summer and getting into the groove during fall. In early winter things tend to shift into a slow crawl. A common thread for keeping your spirits up in the winter is to refocus on personal relationships. This could be going on snowy outdoor walks or watching movies. For myself, I’m planning to get some of these new friends together regularly for a game night and put some of those classic and not-so-classic games into use again.
Example 3: Winterize Minimalism & Sentiment
Cancer in the family last winter brought up discussions about belongings and inheritance and the perception of “deserving” someone else’s things/money, etc. These were numerous conversations focusing on the idea of what would the next decade look like and how can we leave things clear and unburdensome on loved ones.
Swedish death cleaning is a fascinating way to tackle the excess stuff. Whether we are to be the first to go or preparing to move from large farm houses to a nursing home, having too many things is a burden. I recommend taking some time to think through and discuss these topics with loved ones casually. Luckily things have worked out in the short term for my family but anything can change on a dime. How do you want to spend your time?
In the early months, while cooking new meals, I also tackled decluttering belongings. I wanted to make taking care of my house and getting to the things I enjoy easier. This practice was made simpler by an annual week long destination vacation where I’ve continued to learn what I actually want to spend my time on rather than what I think I should spend my time on. It’s a bit harder to offload things in the winter, but it is a great time to go through things in the house including electronic clutter.
This idea was inspired by a suggestion to bring out sentimental items, but if your family is willing consider “shopping” for seasonal décor from your family’s supplies. Is there a particular platter that you always loved but only got to see once a year? Consider asking to borrow it for a season. My mother has been wanting to have her grandmother’s cookie jar so she could share the memories she had with her grandmother with her kids and grandkids but it’s been boxed away in her mother’s closet for decades. Now’s the perfect time to take it out and give it that place of honor!
Example 4: Winterize Health Goals
The biggest theme of all of my goals was to live healthier. A large part of this was shifting my focus from inside activities to outside activities and to add movement into my life wherever I could. Last winter the only movement I did was a weekly Pilates class and moving all the boxes around while decluttering and unpacking a bit. However, when you’re successful at declutter…eventually you no longer move around so much extra.
This year I’ll be taking to the stores to build up my winter/fall gear and layers so that I can still get outside in the snow and ice, see some sun (maybe just light), and not be so tempted to haul up indoors. Through several capsule wardrobe attempts I’ve discovered exactly what types of clothes function for me and what types of layers work best in this area. I’ve lived in Seattle, Tulsa, Wichita, Northcentral Kansas, and now Eastern Nebraska and all of these areas have required different things from each season. Now I finally understand why snow is referred to as “powder”. It might as well be called “slush” in Wichita.
I’ve been getting more active throughout my day for several months but this winter I’m shifting toward specifically weight training. This will shift additional time into the gym during the winter. In addition, it’s a pretty good time to learn something new…nutrition anyone?
More Winterizing Ideas
Getting all of your goals to wrap into an overall theme is helpful in moving forward when you’ve burned out on a specific activity or, in this case, when you need to shift it seasonally. That’s what maintenance months are for. It allows me to go back in and see what tools were successful or need shifted or altered in some way.
Here’s a list of ideas that I found online with links to the full lists. Some were for seasonal affect disorder but these are my top picks:
- Look forward to sledding or ice skating
- Go for a night walk in the snow (bundle up!)
- Change the ambiance in the room (light candles, scents, etc.)
- Swap out décor for lighter colors to brighten the space up
- Still get outside and get sunlight
- Gratitude lists
- Spa day
- Learn to meditate
- Learn something new
- Bonfire or potluck
- Try to “find the best” of a particular recipe
- Read books that transport you
- Plan things to look forward to
There are so many more to consider. Comment below if you have suggestions or have something that works well to boost your mood and keep you on track during the winter.