15 ways to stay productive when it's dark and cold outside

In winter and autumn, our productivity most often decreases: it is difficult for us to wake up and collect our thoughts. It's also very difficult to stay positive and motivated. As a result, the desire to work may disappear.

We asked Lifehacker employees and readers to share ways that help them save productivity in the cold season.

Allow yourself to rest

To stay productive, you need, as they say now, to be in the resource. And rest is what makes up for it.

For example, to take a break from work, I can play funny music and dance. Or do yoga, reading, and sometimes just lie down for 15 minutes with your eyes closed. This small distraction replenishes the charge and restores strength. I try to take rest breaks every hour.

In winter, productivity naturally drops, this must be taken into account. And here it is important to understand that you cannot earn all the money in the world. Therefore, it is better to put your mental and physical health in the first place - to listen to yourself and do what you really want.

Try to work outside the home

My a little strange, but working life hack is to load myself with things: to constantly travel somewhere, to meet with someone. Yes, in winter I don't want to leave the apartment. But in the end, the days I spent away from home were much easier and more productive.

It seems that the apartment is warm and cozy, but this is a snag: in the end, you feel a complete reluctance to do something. Not to be able to apathy, you need to keep moving and maintain the usual pace.

Ventilate the room regularly

It's no secret that fresh air invigorates perfectly. In winter, when the temperature of the batteries resembles a hellish cauldron, this is very useful. For several hours of work in a stuffy room, the brain literally boils, and this is not ok.

Therefore, I ventilate the room several times a day. I open the door to the balcony and leave it for 10 minutes. I myself run away from the draft: I go to make tea or make a small charging. Such breaks from work, changing the picture in front of your eyes and fresh air help you return to tasks and run your fingers over the keyboard a little faster.

Use smart bulbs

The most difficult thing for me is to comply with the daily routine, because it is he who directly affects productivity. Sometimes I don’t hear the alarm and don’t feel like someone is waking me up. And when I get up, I feel overwhelmed and sleepy. I have noticed that it is much more difficult for me to wake up at the right time in winter. In contrast to the summer period, when the sun's rays penetrate the window and naturally wake me up.

So I decided to order into the bedroom light bulbsthat simulate dawn. Through the application, you need to set the desired rise time, and by this moment they will gradually flare up as if someone in the apartment had just turned on the light or opened the curtain. It's not enough for a carefree, advertising-like climb, but getting up is a little easier.

Don't work in pajamas

No clothes to sleep and work out of bed! I met this life hack in different sources, but from my own experience I noticed: when you sit in pajamas, the bed pulls into its warm embrace.

Create a comfortable workplace

I noticed that the more pleasant it is for me to sit at the table, the higher my productivity. Therefore, I have allocated a separate area for work - a comfortable chair and a high table. Plus a laptop stand. There are power outlets nearby and no distractions.

It is also important for me that it is beautiful around. In the summer I decorate the room with fresh flowers, dried flowers and potted plants, and in the winter - with candles and garlands. Also, when it gets dark, I turn on the lamp to create localized lighting.

Reward yourself for accomplished tasks

It is always more difficult to get up and work during the cold season, so I praise myself more often. I try to rest a lot so that there is no overload. And sometimes instead of homemade coffee I go to a cafe for “the very ultra-mega-with-triple-cream latte”!

Take a shower when you want to cheer up

I use this life hack when I feel that I literally fall asleep on the go. Even if I have already taken a shower in the morning, I can go to wash again at lunchtime, so that the water slightly invigorates me.

At the same time, it is advisable not to soften, standing under warm streams, but, on the contrary, to make the temperature slightly lower than usual. Well, hardlevel is a contrast shower.

Typically, this trip to the bathroom takes 5-7 minutes, which fits well with a short break between tasks. And since I work from home, I am quite comfortable doing this trick if it becomes completely unbearable. When there is no time, you can simply wash your face with cold water.

Drink vitamins

So far I'm just a beginner biohacker. But among my habits there is a regular check-up of the body every six months - during which I also check vitamins.

It all started when I came to the doctor a year and a half ago complaining of severe fatigue, drowsiness and apathy. As a person who has never visited an endocrinologist in my life, I have already invented a bunch of terrible diagnoses for myself. But everything turned out to be more prosaic: I had the strongest vitamin deficiency D. When the norm was 30–100 ng / ml, its amount was only 4 ng / ml. "How did you get to me?" - I remember the doctor asked.

Since then, I have been trying to monitor the vitamin and mineral balance and from September to April I drink vitamin D without fail. And along with it, and other vitamins, which I lack at a particular moment.

Take a vacation in November

The second half of the year is generally quite difficult and dull. Daylight hours decrease, the weather deteriorates. I don't want anything. Even rest. But I leave myself a week off at the beginning of November, just to breathe out and then finish the year with renewed vigor.

Then it’s easier: there are holidays in January, gender holidays in February and March, and then spring! So things don't seem like an unbearable burden.

Come up with winter rituals

The main problem with staying productive at this time of year is that we spend too much time suffering and longing. If you try to "overwrite" winter experience, life will become easier.

For example, a friend of mine is snowboarding, so when it snows, she is very happy about it. I don't know about winter sports, but I use my own life hack. I came up with entertainment that I do only in November-February: I cook certain dishes, watch certain films.

Let's say I'm freeing December to re-read some cool series of books. And now - winter is no longer so frightening, because it promises something pleasant!

Dress comfortably

It happens that in winter you want to move mountains. But how can you imagine that for this you need to wear tights, pants, hat, which beats with an electric current... So all desire disappears!

In order to make life easier, you can get confused with really comfortable clothes. Find a weightless jacket, in which it is not cold outside and not hot indoors, hats in which you do not look like a humanoid Alyoshenka, shoes that do not slip. If winter things interfere with life, they need to be replaced with others. It's not cheap, but worth it.

Clean your home more often

This is not the main way to cheer yourself up and recharge your energy, but just one of the, but it helps me a lot. Regardless of the season, I clean two or three times a week. As a rule, this is the organization of space. It is important for me that each thing has its place and this order is respected.

Cleaning helps my mental state. It's like meditation: I disconnect from everything, dissolve in the process. And the result creates a feeling of comfort. I have no feeling of tiredness, only satisfaction. I feel that I have been filled with new strength and enthusiasm to work.

Run or go for a walk every day

I run for at least 30 minutes every morning. If there is no strength and desire for this, I just walk at a comfortable pace. At some point, I realized that I just need it, without it I cannot start my day.

And here a frequent question is how run in winter? To do this, I dress in three layers: thermal underwear, inner jacket and windbreaker, sweatpants.

I have special running shoes with a protector and a membrane (it does not allow moisture to penetrate, but at the same time allows my feet to breathe). In order not to get sick, I pull a buff on my nose - a fabric tube.

Listen to good music

Music greatly affects my productivity. In this case, a certain ritual of inclusion is important.the right music»For a certain type of activity. If her rhythm matches her mood, it's bingo! Otherwise, it is only a distraction.

In addition, since I have a very diverse work and during the day I change my type of activity many times, music helps to quickly readjust to the desired wave.

Therefore, my playlist contains both Budha Bar and instrumental music for my taste (I ask "Alice" to play something based on my profile), and AC / DC, when you need to kick up, and the music of my youth, when you need to raise mood in period of difficulties or loss of strength.