As the weather gets colder, we’re all reminded of last year’s tough and lonely wintertime quarantine, and one thing’s for sure: We don’t want to repeat it. Luckily, we’ve been through a COVID winter before, and we can do it again – and this time, we won’t get caught in the bad habits we might have leaned too heavily on last winter.
This year, shift your mindset and weather another winter working from home with this survival guide.
1. Stay innovative
Wintertime can make one feel physically and mentally sluggish, or unusually drained. But there are ways to distract yourself from the overwhelming winter blues even if the things that used to inspire you aren’t as easy as they once were. That’s why making the best of what you have is key, as you can continue to do the things that make you feel invigorated without even leaving your house. It just takes a little creativity and a little ingenuity, but you can transform your home into anything from a workout studio to a movie theater or the office you’ve always dreamed of working in.
Many like to take a daily walk during their lunch break, which might be a bit harder when you’re trying to walk through frozen tundra. So, if exercise is a reassuring source of innovative energy for you, a lack of movement could drastically affect your daily motivation. A good solution to keep the blood flowing to your brain and body is to do dynamic stretches, which are movements like lunges or arm extensions. Dynamic stretches aren’t held, and they loosen up the joints while raising one’s body temperature and increasing circulation. The endorphins you release doing easy activities like these stimulate moods you can bring back into work, just like your daily walk would. This is just one example of many you can use to alter a pre-winter routine and turn it into something that keeps you going year-round.
2. Stay cozy
The next thing you need to survive another long winter at home is something a little more practical: warmth. One of the reasons that wintertime can feel so draining is that frigid temperatures can cause muscles to become stiff, preventing you from typing, talking, or walking with ease. The cold can make you sleepy as well, and your mind might start to wander onto your physical discomfort rather than focusing on other tasks at hand. Studies show that particularly women do better on verbal and math assessments in warmer climates.
Staying cozy can be done with a toasty fireplace, a steamy radiator, or even a cuddle wardrobe. You already wear many hats at work, so why not let them show in your wardrobe? Up to 10% of your body heat is released through your head and neck, which can unknowingly result in feeling unusually cold. If your home office isn’t as warm as you’d like it, or if you’re dropping by the office and the thermostat is set just a bit too low for your tastes, pick out a work-ready hat or scarf to jazz up your winter wardrobe and see how much it impacts your productivity.
3. Stay positive
When confronted with another gloomy COVID winter, it’s important to stay as optimistic as you can. Regularly, mental health concerns like seasonal affective disorder tend to flare up in the wintertime, and cause symptoms like feeling unmotivated, overeating, an inability to feel engaged, or general depression. Dr. Amy Arnstein, a neuroscientist from Yale, notes that these bouts of extended stress without a reprieve can dramatically decrease one’s ability to focus, and ultimately impact their work as much as their mental health.
However, there are ways to tackle the wintertime blues and feel a little more hopeful about the coming chilly months. The first step is to enjoy more breaks from screen time, as the winter months make television and computers the place to relax as well as work, which can harm your eyes, your attention span, and your creativity. Take whatever opportunities you can to enjoy a break from technology, as it will ground you, refresh you, and recenter you in surprising ways. If you want to brainstorm, create a list, organize your priorities or work out a problem, step away from the computer and pick up a pen instead. These moments of screen-free, meditative activities are the kinds of tasks that can facilitate the regrowth of neurons, relieving your brain from its constant state of stress.
4. Stay connected
While the holidays might seem like the best time to connect with coworkers and family, the rest of the winter can feel cold and unforgiving, and in fact, many people refrain from socializing in the winter entirely. A survey conducted by OnePoll shows that 35% of people tend to avoid socializing in the winter months, and prefer the summer months for get-togethers and catching up. In fact, only three in ten people make it to one or two social events in a winter month. This can render people feeling isolated or lonely during those cold, frosty days and freezing nights, especially if you’re one of the 36 million people that live alone.
If you’re working from home and you’re feeling lonely, you’ll need a way to fulfill social needs, keeping your mind stimulated and your mood up. The good news is that there are a group of people you talk to almost every day, and maybe you even see their bright, shining faces in meetings more than once a week: That’s your team. Your coworkers are the ones you talk to the most frequently, in meetings and on chat channels, so use the relationships you have at your disposal to check all your social boxes.
There’s no shame in asking for a coffee date or suggesting an open video conference where people can come work and chat if they so choose. Utilize the office friendships you have to the fullest during the wintertime, and those feelings of isolation will dissipate.
