When the clocks go back, the days get shorter. You leave for work in the dark and come home in the dark. The days get colder and wetter, and winter hasn't even started yet. For many people, this is not the most pleasant time of year. They suffer from the winter blues, and their work engagement can drop as a result without them noticing. Three tips against the winter blues.
Light, lots of light
Daylight controls your body clock. It determines how much melatonin is in your body, the hormone that regulates when you are awake and when you sleep. If you get little daylight, you have more melatonin during the day and feel tired, sleepy and low sooner. Thuisarts
So go outside every day, even when it is cloudy. A walk in your lunch break is an easy way to get some daylight. For real winter depression, light therapy can help, with a special lamp that gives 10,000 lux of white light. You can rent or buy one.
Light is also important for vitamin D, which your body makes in the skin under the influence of sunlight. In the winter months, however, the sun in the Netherlands is too low for your skin to make vitamin D. Vitamin D occurs naturally mainly in oily fish, such as herring and salmon, and to a lesser extent in meat and eggs. It is also added to some spreads, margarine and cooking fats. Voedingscentrum So eat a healthy and varied diet. For some groups, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre advises extra vitamin D. Check the advice for your own country to see whether that applies to you.
Keep moving
The winter blues can make you less active. You feel less like cycling to the gym in the dark, or you feel listless and flop onto the sofa sooner in the evening. Try to prevent that. For example, cycle to work more often if you can. If you don't exercise yet, start as soon as possible. Exercise before work, or run off the gloom after work. Exercise gives energy, and it is also good for your self-confidence, your stress levels, your sleep and your social life.
Keep structure in your week and do things you enjoy
When it is dark and cold outside, many people find it hard to get out of bed or do anything. That is precisely when it is important to keep doing the things you do in summer. Do things at fixed times every day, so your day has rhythm and structure. Thuisarts And if you only sit inside and do nothing, you also get too little light and too little exercise.
Being active doesn't have to mean exercising straight away. Seek out people: go for a drink with friends or colleagues, play a game or make your home or workplace extra cosy. So do things that make you happy and give you positive energy. That can help you enormously to fight the winter blues.
Have you noticed that you have been feeling low for a while, less engaged, have less appetite or are sleeping badly? Then try these three tips. If the symptoms persist, or have a big impact on your work and life, contact your GP.
Also read make staying vital a sport and tips for more vitality at work.
