Since moving to the Washington DC area 5 years ago, I’ve struggled with winters. It’s never the cold that’s frustrated me, but the sun going down earlier in the northeast. This is particularly noticeable on December/January days when I wake up, work at home until 6ish, and upon finishing find there’s not one single ray of sunlight left and I barely saw sun the whole day.
Days without sunlight drain all my energy and I feel demoralized. Because of this, I’ve started to think about myself as a sunlight battery
- When I’m outside all day on a hike or walk, I’m “fully charged” and chipper
- When I don’t get outside at all, my sunlight battery charge gets depleted from the previous day
- During spring/summer/fall on sunny days, it’s like a supercharger and my sunlight battery can get charged in as little as 15 minutes
- In winter on foggy/rainy/snowy days, my sunlight battery charges more slowly and I might need more like 60 minutes to feel relaxed
My biggest discovery is that in both scenarios, it’s critical that I spend time outside. As these made up numbers show, it’s even more critical that I get outside during winter especially when it’s tough!! Without that my sunlight battery will dwindle and I’ll turn into a pumpkin.
So going into next year, my approach during winter is:
- Be outside for 45-60 minutes a day.
- Take a walk at lunch when sunshine is gone after work
- Take any check-in calls on walks outside regardless of temperature
- Take one (preferably two or three) trips somewhere west or south
- These trips act as my winter supercharger
- Since my goal is to get lots of sun, going somewhere it’s easier to do that in daily habits is helpful when my motivation is flagging
- Pray that Daylight savings finally gets overturned
My strategy is loosely based on what Andrew Huberman shared on the Knowledge Project, but really focuses on fitting best with my lifestyle. Whatever strategy will work best for you will probably do the same.