The new year has arrived!
Welcome to my first blog of 2023!
I think it’s safe to say that January isn’t my favourite month. I have always found it hard, even when I was younger. All the excitement and family time over Christmas is over and we’re faced with cold weather, dark mornings and long nights. The boys are back at school and the evenings together feel so short when it gets dark so early. I feel a lack of motivation, tiredness, low mood and more time spent alone makes January feel like a really gloomy month for me.
If any of this sounds familiar, stay with me. I hope what follows will be a sort of January survival guide.
Hopefully you’ll find something useful to help lift your mood in the following along with information about where to find support over the coming weeks. If nothing else, hopefully this will help you see that you’re not alone, ups and downs are normal and we should start putting less pressure on ourselves.
I will hold up my hands and say I have been in a glass half empty mood for a while now. Looking at my life and thinking about what I don’t have or perhaps where I thought I’d be. Finding focus has been really hard. Christmas came as a bit of light. Something to focus on, the joy it brought to my boys and plenty of time with friends and family. So what now? I think I’ve always seen January as the end. The end of Christmas, the end of another year, the end of our holiday fun. Instead I’m going to try and look forward and use January as a time to reflect. So I’ve been thinking about what’s important to me for the year ahead.
One thing I’d like to do is prioritise my mental health. I have spoken before about listening to others and offering support in regards to their mental health but I’m not so great at looking after myself and over the last few weeks I’ve let myself get burnt out. I’ve decided not to put too much pressure on myself. It just causes me more stress and affects my mental health. There is so much that we can’t control, so why worry about what I can’t change? Instead I’m trying to focus on what I can do and focus my energy on that.
Which leads me to ask, did you make any new year’s resolutions?
If you have made some resolutions, great! They can be really positive and provide motivation and something to focus on over the next few months. I’ve not made any specifically, I have reflected on what I want for this year and as you may know if you’ve read my previous blogs I’ve been making some changes within my home and life already so I’m staying focused on those. I’m not expecting major changes in a short space of time but am focusing on small achievable goals that I can build on through the year. And I’d encourage you to do the same. In the past I’ve been guilty of setting myself overly ambitious resolutions that put too much pressure on myself and I felt that I’d let myself down when I didn’t see change quick enough. Reaching smaller targets will keep you motivated and feeling happy.
And if you’ve not made any, great! Making changes or breaking habits doesn’t have to start in January. If there’s something you want to work on it can happen when you are ready. If you’re already feeling under pressure there is no need to start a new year putting more pressure on yourself.
So how do we beat the winter blues?
Fresh Air
I know I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs but I do swear by it. Get outside as much as you can! There’s not many hours of daylight at the moment so make the most of them if you can. Sit by a window if you can’t get out, it can help. Getting outside for an hour will give you some exercise as well. Exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous; an hour’s walk can improve your mood and get those feel good endorphins moving. Invite some friends to join you. Seeing other people is important.
Food
Eating healthily will boost your mood and give you more energy. Try getting plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. Take a look online. There are so many great recipe ideas. Remember in the end it’s about balance, and it’s definitely good to treat ourselves.
Sleep
Get a good night’s sleep! We all know sleep is important. We also know it’s not always possible to get the good nights sleep we need. My sister got married in the summer last year and I gave a speech at her wedding. The night before I did not sleep one wink, not at all! It was horrible. Anxiety, nerves, worries all impact our sleep. Poor sleep can have a negative impact on our mental health, making us feel irritable, and heighten anxieties and worries. So look up how much sleep is recommended for your age, then visit my previous blog on sleep (Link) to get some top tips on a good night’s sleep. I’d also like to stress the importance of turning off those screens at least 90 minutes before bed!
There are a couple of good sleep apps worth trying as well.
Pzizz is an NHS recommended sleep app which is free but does have some in-app purchases. The app calms the mind and aims to reduce anxiety or thoughts that can keep us awake.
Sleepio app builds a sleep program for you using a sleep test. It’s based around cognitive behavioural therapy techniques and aims to reset your sleep patterns naturally over time. This app can be prescribed on the NHS for free through your GP.
Calm and Headspace are both great for meditation and relaxation.
Sleep Sounds App encourages you to relax and sleep with sleeping sounds, nature sounds, rain sounds, meditation sounds and white noise and much more.
Money
It’s a tricky subject. Christmas can be an expensive time. Even for the thriftiest of us. The rise in the cost of living, gas and electric bills are rising. I’ve found it a really scary time. I always do a large food shop every month and then pop to my local shop in between for fruit and vegetables. But I can spend a small fortune every time. Have a look at the Gov.uk advice on the Cost of Living to see what help is available.
Budgeting is a skill I’m still trying to master. I use a notepad and write down my income vs my outgoings and give myself a weekly budget. But there are plenty of apps to help you with budgeting, take a look at Emma App, or Money Dashboard.
Worried about debts or money problems? Stepchange offer free support as long as you need it.
Take a look at the Citizens Advice; they have lots of information about additional payments that have been paid out or are coming.
Martin Lewis “Money Saving Expert” always has lots of tip on his websites and newsletter too.
Getting support
Being able to identify what is making you feel anxious or sad will allow you to get the right help. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. Sharing how you feel with someone you can trust is a good step in making things better. There are plenty of organisations that are able to offer support as well. If you are worried that your low mood may be serious, please speak to your GP.
On our website resource page there are lots of website, apps and helplines that you can go to for support at all times of the day.
We have new team members starting this month and exciting projects, so look out for the next blogs from them, and don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter here, this month we’ll be including our daily wellness planner, designed to help us check in with ourselves and make things a little less overwhelming.
Have a great month, I’ll see you soon!