☁️ Winter blues checklist

Winter takes daylight, routine and contact with people away a little at a time, mostly without anyone deciding it. This is what to put back deliberately.

14 items

1. Daylight got in the first half of the dayOutside if at all possible — even on a grey day there's more usable light outside than in.
2. Desk or main chair moved nearer a windowFor the months when getting outside at midday isn't realistic.
3. A light box considered, if mornings are dark before you leave for workCheck it's a proper SAD lamp rather than an ordinary bright light, and use it early in the day rather than in the evening.
4. One thing in the diary each week that's actually looked forward toWinter empties the calendar of its own accord; this refills a little of it deliberately.
5. Movement kept up despite the cold and the darkThe urge to hibernate is strongest exactly when moving would help most.
6. Food that isn't only comfort foodWorth noticing if the diet's tipped entirely toward beige and starchy, without banning any of it outright.
7. Vitamin D consideredWorth asking a pharmacist or GP about a supplement, since UK daylight in winter often isn't enough on its own.
8. Sleep kept on a regular schedule despite the earlier darkThe urge to go to bed at eight and get up at ten throws the routine out as much as any late night would.
9. Contact with people kept up on purposeWinter reduces this by default too, through nobody's real decision.
10. The heating bill checked before the cold snap, not during itA cold house makes the flat feel bleaker on top of everything else.
11. Something to look forward to further out, bookedA date past the midwinter point gives the months ahead a landmark rather than an undifferentiated stretch.
12. Alcohol checked against how much it's actually increasedIt's an easy habit to lean on more heavily in the dark months, and it tends to make low mood worse rather than better.
13. A clear-eyed look at how this compares to previous wintersWorth being honest about whether it's the ordinary low of short days or something heavier and more constant.
14. A GP conversation, if the low mood is severe, constant or affecting daily lifeSeasonal affective disorder is a recognised, treatable condition, not just a bad mood about the weather — this is a job for a doctor, not a checklist.