How to Overcome the Winter Blues: Effective Tips for Boosting Your Mood

Thrive through the winter: Simple strategies to boost your mood and motivation

Here they come—the long, cold winter months. Days get shorter, sunlight is in short supply, temperatures drop, and so do our moods. Less daylight tends to make us feel less motivated or even disengaged with day-to-day life. Some people experience weight gain, lose interest in social activities, and get cranky or depressed. Whether it’s just the winter blues or it’s seasonal affective disorder, here’s a plan so you can do more than just survive—you can thrive all winter long.

First things first: get sunlight the very FIRST thing in the morning. If you need to keep a pair of sweatpants and sneakers next to your bed to get out the door ASAP in the morning, do it. Studies show that just 10-15 minutes of immediate fresh air and sunlight exposure can get your dopamine firing and set a positive and productive tone for the entire day. So take your dog for a spin around the block, or go and grab coffee a few streets away—then head back home to shower and officially start your day. It’s as effective as caffeine to kick your motivation into high gear, so you’ll sit down at your desk energized and ready to go. What if 10 minutes in the morning could change the whole course of your day for the better? With this one small habit, it can.

Next, aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise three times a week. Exercise is a quick and easy way to boost your mood and get your blood flowing and your heart pumping. It’s especially effective since winter months are our most sedentary ones. We spend more time cozied up on the couch watching Netflix, and it’s harder to get out of bed in the morning during darker days. We leave our houses less, which means we also move our bodies less. But 30 minutes of exercise is highly achievable—try a YouTube yoga session, a walk-and-talk with a friend, or a quick jog to get things flowing.

Speaking of friends, your goal should be more socializing and less hibernating. Connection is your secret weapon when it comes to fighting off the winter blues. During a time when people tend to cancel plans and stay in and isolate more, it’s smart to double down on being a social butterfly and get some plans on the calendar that you can really look forward to. Host a few dinners at home, accept all invitations that come your way, and be consistent about not flaking on plans. An easy win is to make a few phone dates throughout the week with people you love so you can feel in touch with your support system, even if you’re just FaceTiming from bed.

It’s no secret that the lack of light and the added stress of navigating difficult weather can plummet our natural serotonin from the months of November to March (which is a long stretch of time). That’s why it’s a smart move to map out a plan for tackling winter. With just a few tweaks to your weekly routine, you can find surefire ways to put the pep back in your step during cold months.

Elle Kensington is a lifestyle writer based in NYC.