Lousy smarch weather...
Here in New England it has been a truly terrible March, weather-wise (though this last storm seems to have been a dud thankfully). I'm crossing my fingers I can put my shovel away for good soon, now that the calendar at least is convinced it's spring.
I've been known to fall victim to a smidge of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in February and March. It's been dark and cold and wet for long enough that I start to feel downtrodden and begin to hibernate in earnest. It causes me to start putting off things that will benefit me and click "I'm still watching" on Netflix more times than is really helpful to me if I'm being honest with myself.
This year I've been focusing on ways to help keep the effects at bay. I can certainly say that even though it's the first time I've been on my own dealing with this, I've been pretty successful. Most of the time these tips and tricks have worked. Sometimes, though, they don't...and that's also okay.
The biggest helper I've found is just to not judge myself for these suboptimal tendencies. I don't berate myself so much for wanting an extra ten minutes just to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling before getting up to start the day. I'm less upset with myself for letting the house get a little untidy (dare I go so far as to call it "messy"?). I take a breath before I get down on myself for not making that important phone call today and not having figured out some paperwork yet. I give myself the room to be human and make small mistakes - then I fix them. When I'm less judgemental with myself I have more energy to tackle these seemingly huge obstacles in the long run. When it all seems to have snowballed on me, I set aside a whole weekend to make sure that not only do I get the things done that I need to, but I also have space in between for real self-care (not Netflix binging masquerading as self-care).
The other big thing I did was plan myself a warm-weather getaway ahead of time. It broke up the coldest and most miserable months of the year and gave me the space to breathe during what's usually the second busiest time of year for me. This may not be in the cards for everyone - it certainly wasn't for me until this year - but there are smaller ways to take advantage of this mood-booster too. Take a weekend away anyplace with good company (which, depending on who you are, may actually be flying solo), plan a roadtrip for later in the year, take hot steamy soaks in the tub while listening to your favorite summer tunes, throw a Luau themed party and buy one of those ridiculous coconut bras. Any way that you can switch your brain to "Not-Winter" mode is going to be beneficial.
One of the smaller things has been to focus my media consumption on the lighter side of the world. I've never been a news-media follower (and I credit my sanity largely to this), but I stay informed by carefully choosing a few trustworthy online sources of well-written and well-cultivated articles and then browse the latest headlines every day. If it sounds "doom and gloom"y, I just don't click. I opt instead for the successes of the world, and the positive side of humanity. Same goes for my TV- and movie-watching. I'll save the "gritty" dramas for (actual) springtime. Maybe that means watching Moana half a dozen times, maybe that means having a girlfriend over on a Sunday for a lazy day of healthy snacks and rom-coms. With my recent surge of reading (stay tuned for an ANM full of book recommendations), I've been sticking to fiction and keeping it light, fluffy, or in some lucky cases, truly uplifting. In the modern age of the internet, those nail-biting thrillers everyone is talking about aren't going anywhere. I'll catch up in June.
Other tiny ways I've given myself a boost in the past few weeks:
-At-home pedicures
-Epsom salt baths by candlelight
-Lots of laughs with friends, near and far
-Exploring new interests (man, Tiger really is a beast!)
-Re-investing time in the old ones (Go B's!)
-Organizing my company's March Madness bracket challenge (alright, alright, I'll get off the sports now)
-Browsing the #aww tag on Imgur (go now, thank me later)
-Keeping up with my gratitude practices
-making tasty and healthy treats (once a week; moderation is key!)
If you've tried all of these and still need some help, here are some of the silly things I've stumbled across that have oddly made the world seem more bearable this week:
Failing that, I've yet to encounter an ailment that a solid pet snuggle session hasn't made just a bit more tolerable. So go squeeze your furry friends (or not so furry ones, or even that favorite stuffed animal you have hiding in a box in the attic) and take a deep breath.
Spring will (actually) be here before we know it!