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My OH knows I hate this time of year, and I'm basically in hibernation mode like all simple animals. Riding sucks at this time of year, eating and sleeping are all I want to do. So I do those things plus.
Avoid the news, reduce FB, Twitter, STW etc a bit. Frees up the hour you need to do the next two.
Force myself to go for a walk even though I WFH. I listen to a football podcast that makes me laugh, but listen to music or daydream if that appeals more.
Force myself to do some exercise almost every day (Turbo trainer, Apple Fitness, some of the Nintendo Switch games etc are great). Anything to get me sweating and a bit of an achy feeling afterwards. 25 mins unless it's the turbo.
Get a dog/cat.
Good music, and make ridiculous Lego things with the kid
OH gave me a little vase of tulips for my office the other day which made me unreasonably pleased. Small acts of kindness for others has a similar effect too.
If you're lucky to have your own space in the house, take loads of time to sort it the way you want it. Especially if you wfh, given how much time you have to spend in it.
tl;dr It's the worst bit of the year so give yourself a break.
ride your bike
as well as that 🙂 yes 1. coffee, two large mugs in the morning, Cafe Direct stuff, £4.50 a bag now but I need it... plus 2. a decent Scotch, usually when I am watching Newsnight, poring over a map or two = both of these consumption 'high points' bookend my waking working day at the mo, as I hold out for brighter, warmer, lighter days ahead...
Make an effort to notice the things you enjoy.
We're not wired that way, we look for danger and bad things. But, actually there is lots of good, notice it, and enjoy it.
Make time for it as well. Various suggestions above. If you like coffee, food etc. take the time and savour it. Go for walk outside. Talk to people you like. Do something nice for someone.
Or buy a new bike 😉
Might not be your thing, but we’re really enjoying board games as an alternative to mindlessly scrolling through tv/streaming services.
In case you missed it,
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/board-games-whatre-you-currently-playing
As said many times before, go outside if you can, and notice the first signs of spring. Catkins, new leaves on the honeysuckle, first shoots of the bluebells, drumming of woodpeckers, snowdrops, daffodils and crocuses getting ready to pop open, brighter light and longer days. It's all happening. Well it is down here in the Tropical Sarf anyways.......😁
Don’t watch/browse the news.
Get some good noise cancelling headphones and listen to podcasts or your favourite music genre.
Bake something, I find it very satisfying measuring the ingredients and making something tasty to eat.
Go outside and find somewhere to watch the sunrise, and take a flask of coffee/tea
Go to a live music show.
Do something together with your wife, daily if you can (it doesn't have to be sex) tried scrabble?
Coffee. Get an espresso machine. The whole ritual of making a coffee is relaxing in itself, and with practice and the right beans you will get a better cup than most of those you pay £3.50 for.
Music. Go for a walk with some decent earphones and listen to something good.
Go and sit in a nature reserve (Hampton Wood is a good one near you). Just listen.
Smack your wife on the @rse when she walks by, like really hard. Totally childish but an absolute guaranteed day brightener.
In my experience as well as enjoyable activities an effective way of bringing about positive changes is by trying to change your own perception of situations by training your brain to put a more positive spin on things.
Some people do this through meditation and affirmations, but for me when I'm at a low point, stressed or worried about a work or family matter, I purposely try to step back in my head and say to myself how can I look at this another way.....a better or more positive way.
I don't know if I've explained that very well, and I feel a bit of a hypocrite saying it because I often find it hard to do myself, especially when the black dog is at my door and I'm acting like a belligerent curmudgeon.
My 1st batch of chillies have just popped up and I like checking their progress every day. Nurturing them from a seed right through to a delicious home made hot sauce is awesome.
More info please, We had chillie plants from garden centre last year which we were still harvesting in December, absolutely ace. Seeds ? indoors ? chillies all year round? the holy grail
I go for lunch time walks some days, not so much when muddy, but had a nice quick 15 minute stroll Thursday I think, sunny, not bitterly cold, across the fields and back from the office.
My 1st batch of chillies have just popped up and I like checking their progress every day.
Argghhhh. Bought some seeds late last year to sow.. Not done it yet. Need propagator... Somewhere to put it... Uninsulated shed with a couple of windows facing east be okay?
Do something that’s on your ‘I should really…’ life admin list. They weigh on you more than you realise.
This. Pratting about learning Japanese, trumpet and drums this year, is filling time gaps very enjoyably.
I try to get in a middle of the day 30-45min snooze most days which I find make daily life a lot more enjoyable this time of year. Also going the Chubb Club for the first time which is giving me a lot of motivation to get more exercise in and a small amount of motivation to eat \ drink less.
Comedy in any and every form. I couldn’t get through a day without it.
I just adore looking at the spring bulbs just starting to show. They really make me smile.
Ambrose
Full Member
I just adore looking at the spring bulbs just starting to show. They really make me smile.
Ah yes, life coming back to, well, life. Happens every Spring but still magical. I'll spend a long while just looking at the new buds growing on trees as well.
Argghhhh. Bought some seeds late last year to sow.. Not done it yet. Need propagator… Somewhere to put it… Uninsulated shed with a couple of windows facing east be okay?
I found that putting the propagator on top of the sky box put it at the perfect temperature for chilli seeds to germinate
If you don't already own some and/or have access to a big music collection - buy a nice pair of headphones and a high quality streaming subscription service. When the blues take hold, bang them on. Even play the blues if you want
Yep, love getting out for a quick spin on the bike before work or lunchtime and trying to spot the first daffodils that are flowering.
A snooze at lunchtime helps for me too. Like a meditation.
Book the last Monday of each month off. My SO suggested this to me to add a change to the routine.
This Monday I went on the monsal and high peak trails in glorious winter weather.
Next month I might do something urban - irwell valley, then up to Bury.
Go for a walk every day? Not far, 10km is enough to be a break and get to see and hear some nature.
MoreCashThanDash
Full MemberCoke and hookers.
Daily?!?
Working from home was a revelation!
footflaps
Full Member
I go to bed earlyish and then read for an hour (French novels), then fall asleep listening to the news in French on the radio (France Info). Normally half wake up a bit confused about 11.30 and take the earbuds out.
Lean into this. It's called biphasic sleep. In the pre-indistrial era people used to have two sleeps, and in between they'd eat, read the bible, write letters, visit the neighbours, and have sex. That should brighten your day.
visit the neighbours and have sex
There's a term for that.
Lean into this. It’s called biphasic sleep. In the pre-indistrial era people used to have two sleeps, and in between they’d eat, read the bible, write letters, visit the neighbours, and have sex. That should brighten your day.
I miss those days 🙁
I like to grab a bus north for 5 miles and walk back down the Basingstoke Canal.
Usually stop at the Swan for a pint.
I could cycle obviously, but you miss a lot even on a bike.
Than back to work or play guitar a bit or cook.
The midweek pint thing chimes with me. Since I stopped work I find myself popping into a local pub for a pint or two of Stout early teatime once or twise a week. Never more than 2 and often only 1. School nights isn't a thing now but I still find myself looking forward to weekends because my wife works as do my family etc so I look forward to dragging them on long dog walks that end in the pub on a Saturday or Sunday. I also have a glass of wine most nights but as I am not recovering from a hard day or dreading the next one I find it easy to have a single one. My alcohol consumption has dropped since I finished work notwithstanding my more regular pub visits...
I make sure that I go outside every day. With a dog that is of course rather easy. Without a dog during lockdown, I did the same. Being indoors all day is never a good thing. We used to put babies outside in prams, maybe it's ingrained.
That and decent coffee beans. Spending more on the smaller luxuries is a classic example in economics. Sales of lipstick goes up in a recession, for example, as people need treats.
Use what you have. It's all well and good saying go for a ride if you have a nice loop of lanes or some woodland with a jump run in it, but if all you have is dual carriageways and brownfield then it's less useful. I live near a path that goes through some woods - in the middle of a huge housing development - but I walk down there to Costa a few times a week. My own coffee is significantly better than Costa, but it gets me outside. I sit at one spot by the stream for a while each time, and because I do it regularly I can watch the seasons change and the plants die back and grow again. I have also been watching and learning how the stream erodes its path which appears largely to be due to the trees on the bank being slowly undermined during storms and then eventually falling in, which radically changes the water course.
As said many times before, go outside if you can, and notice the first signs of spring. Catkins, new leaves on the honeysuckle, first shoots of the bluebells, drumming of woodpeckers, snowdrops, daffodils and crocuses getting ready to pop open, brighter light and longer days. It’s all happening. Well it is down here in the Tropical Sarf anyways…….😁
A couple of us here were talking about how it's getting brighter for our rides in, and I said that spring is on the way - I heard two woodpeckers this morning, and the catkins are out. It always cheers me up. 😀
I try not to have too much routine in the evenings, but it's difficult when the dark nights last so long. I'm currently learning how to play the bodhran. And when my wife tells me stop 😀 , I pick up a guitar, which means I can waste hours without noticing.
Great thread with some awesome contributions.
Like some others, it's spending time in nature for me. Which I do most days thanks to the doggo.
Without reading the detail, this is probably the most-positive thing I've seen from the UK Gov for years...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64456455
Nature is key. Our brains are predisposed to feel better looking at natural colours, and looking at distances further than a screen really helps. There's a bacterium called Mycobacterium Vaccae in soil that stimulates the release of serotonin, which is another reason being in the woods is good. Also applies to gardening and MTBing.
Thanks everyone for the replies, some really interesting stuff and plenty to give me some food for thought.
One thing I’ve just started to realise is the impact of home working on me. I now work from home 3 or 4 times a week and in pre Covid days I’d have snapped your arm off if offered this. I’m not a particularly social person at work and the idea of no commute and more time at home would of been a dream.
But the reality has been surprisingly different. I’m now in situation where I spend all day in online meetings which is draining and has none of the social aspects of office life. Even with saving commuting time I seem to spend more time working and with fewer breaks. Been worse during winter where spend whole day sitting at my desk which leaves me feeling cold and lacking in energy.
Definitely need to rethink some priorities and routines!
Food. Cook something proper either for lunch or dinner, once a week or more often. Getting lazy and buying easy meals for the often makes eating boring if you do it every time.
Music. Not as background, but to sit in front of your speakers and listen without doing anything else.
Fix stuff. Controversial I expect but it makes me feel better when I do something that's been niggling for ages, such as the front door that catches on the frame. 10 minutes with a screwdriver and a piece of paper to adjust it to stop draughts. That reminds me, still need to glue the hoover hose into its sockets that always falls out...plenty more little things.
@rockbus - working from home gives me proper cabin fever. A few days of it and I'm climbing the walls, especially at this time of year. Hence the advice about having a walk for a quiet pint somewhere, just to get out of the house.
I was meant to be going out for a lunchtime ride today, but the weather is truly grim and I've zero motivation to go and get cold and wet.
But we've a local bar that does great pizzas that has a really good midweek deal on food, so we're going to wander down there later. Its become a regular midweek thing. A couple of beers, a pizza, and we'll mention to local mates that we're heading down there, so a lot of time some home-working mates will have a stroll down and meet us there for a natter over a pint and some food.
It doesn't cost much but feels like a bit of a treat at the apex of the week and something to look forward too when its cold, wet, dark and miserable outside
Even with saving commuting time I seem to spend more time working and with fewer breaks. Been worse during winter where spend whole day sitting at my desk which leaves me feeling cold and lacking in energy.
This here may be causal, and something you can fix.
In an office it's easy enough to work through lunch at work, or just stop for ten minutes to grab a sandwich. It is perilously easy to do it when WFH.
Make a point of switching off for half an hour or an hour. Go out for a walk or even just change rooms and watch crap telly for a bit. Take breaks. Set alarms if you need to.
visit the neighbours to have sex
FTFY 😉
TV doesn't have to be mindless. There's a lot of brilliant intelligent content out there, if you are prepared to look for it and apply intelligence to watching it.
Don't let other people tell you what's not worthwhile.
It doesn't have to be worthwhile either. There should be no shame in unhooking your brain for an hour.
WFH? Acoustic guitar close to hand. 2 mins working on something new between the on line meetings.
One other thing that hasn't been mentioned on here - take a cold shower in the morning.
Seriously, it works. Start off with you're normal shower then when you're done turn the temp down a bit and stay for ten seconds, then down a bit more and another ten seconds, then turn it properly cold and stay for another ten seconds.
Each day hold the cold blast for a bit longer and try to relax your reaction and breathing. It does get easier as you get used to it.
I'm on about day 12 now and reckon I'm managing about a minute. It seriously wakes you up and I feel miles better for it.
and yes I have been reading a Wim Hof book and watched a couple of documentaries.
It doesn’t have to be worthwhile either.
Indeed. I would strongly recommend spending half an hour every day learning to ride a unicycle.
visit the neighbours to have sex
It doesn’t have to be worthwhile either. There should be no shame in unhooking your brain for an hour.
An hour might be pushing it, but you make a great point.
take a cold shower in the morning.
My old boss did this.
He said it was quite a mood booster - because at least he knew the rest of the day couldn't get any worse.
visit the neighbours and have sex
There’s a term for that.
Fun?
Depending on the specifics of the neighbours of course.