The lack of sunshine, the bitter cold, the messy snow, and being trapped inside—yep, this sounds like your typical Midwestern winter. For some people, this is great and doesn’t phase them. For others, it brings them down and makes them want to sleep until spring arrives. So, how exactly do you cope with these emotions? Lucky for you, I am here to give you some tips on how to deal with the winter blues and stay busy.
Tip No. 1: Clean your room
Cleaning your room not only, well, makes it clean, but it gives you a feeling of accomplishment and cleanliness. Turn on your favorite playlist, vacuum your floor, dust your nightstand, make your bed, clean out your closet, do your laundry, and you’ll completely forget about the fact that the wind chill is below zero degrees outside! The process of cleaning your room may not be all that fun, but it’s the aftermath that is sure to make you feel good.
Tip No. 2: Get your homework done early
Believe me, I know, homework isn’t fun. However, if you have nothing else to do, getting your homework done early will keep you stress-free when it comes to due dates and will give you more time to kick back and relax – all while keeping you occupied at the same time! Get your homework done early and BOOM! More time for binge-watching your favorite shows on Netflix. Not to mention, you’ll forget about the blizzard that is occurring directly outside your window.
Tip No. 3: Exercise
People tend to eat more in the winter due to boredom and seasonal depression. However, hopping on that treadmill and doing those squats for even just 20 minutes a day can help avoid both the boredom and the depression that winter can bring. You’ll feel refreshed, fit, and occupied as you break that sweat! Give it a try – it might just become your new hobby and you won’t even care about the fact that it’s been three days without sunshine!
Tip No. 4: Make fun plans with friends and family
Whether you’re a people person or not, you can’t deny the fact that doing something fun with your friends and family always brings a good time! Ask your family if they want to go see a movie or even just go out to eat. Put your best friends in a group chat and see if they want to go bowling or shopping at the mall. Once you’re all together, you never know what the day will bring you from there! You’ll be having such a good time with your friends and family that you’ll completely forget that it’s only January and you still have at least a month-and-a-half left of the bitter cold, but who’s counting, right?
Tip No. 5: Make some extra cash
They say money can’t buy happiness, but that’s definitely not the case in the winter. Pick up an extra shift or two at work, shovel your neighbors’ driveways, and sell those clothes that don’t fit you anymore! This may sound tedious and tiring, but it’s the extra money in the end that will make it all worth it. By the time you finish counting that cash, the foot of snow will already have taken over your town! Looking for a job to keep you busy? Click here.
Winter may suck, but if you keep yourself busy and occupied, it will become completely irrelevant and will have no impact on your mood whatsoever. Hang in there Panthers—it’ll be summer before you know it!
I’m Dylan Jahnke, and this is my second year with 42Fifty, which I first joined as a staff member. I am a senior at Oswego High School, and I plan to study mass communications/music management in college. I hope to one day have my own radio talk show or get into artist management. If I’m not writing or editing for 42Fifty, I’m either working at Culver’s, hanging out with friends and family, or doing homework. I am humbled to say I began my 42Fifty career my junior year as a staff writer, then Arts & Entertainment editor first semester of my senior year and now Editor-in-Chief.
