We can all feel the colder weather creeping in, which means shorter days are fast approaching – or at least, that’s how it feels. When daylight only lasts for about 10 hours in the winter, we often feel like the 24-hour day has been cut short.
For the sake of our mental health, it’s important to remember that darker days don’t necessarily mean shorter ones.
I’m sure we have all felt the sense of impending doom when we have homework or other tasks to get done, but it’s already dark outside. It feels as though we have no time left in the day to get anything finished.
In the summer, that may be true. In the winter, that’s not always the case.
If you were to be doing homework at 6 p.m. in the spring or late summer, you would feel like you had all the time in the world for the sole reason that the sun was still out. Flip this scenario to the wintertime, and you’d feel overwhelmed because you still had work to do, but the sun had already set.
Just the other night, I was having dinner with my friends and we were discussing our upcoming homework assignments. One of my friends expressed that she felt stressed because it was already dark outside, and she hadn’t even started one of her assignments.
We checked our phones and were surprised to see that it was only 7:30 p.m.
While the shortened winter days can create a sense of claustrophobia, slowing down and focusing on the actual time of day, rather than its appearance, can help.
When you find yourself in a similar situation as my friend, try your best to use your imagination.
Take yourself back to what 6 p.m. in the spring and summer looked like. Picture yourself doing homework at 6 p.m. then, and reassure yourself that the only difference now is the tilt of the Earth and not the length of the days.
Darker days in the winter might be disheartening, but they also remind us to slow down and provide us with the opportunity to unwind a little earlier at the end of our days.
Use the longer evenings to rest your mind and body. Find ways to take advantage of the fact that going outside isn’t the best option for entertainment. Go to sleep earlier, watch that show you’ve been thinking about or take more time to study and do homework.
Plan things for your evenings, such as studying in the library, going to the gym or hanging out with friends. This will help remind you that your days don’t end with the sun, and that you still have plenty of time to do whatever you’d like after it sets.
Think of darker days not as restraints, but as opportunities to get creative and find ways to stay preoccupied indoors. Instead of being disappointed that sunshine will soon be fleeting, find new ways to keep productive during the day.
If the weather permits, go for a walk. Run your errands during the daytime. Study in a place with windows that provide lots of natural lighting. When the early nights can feel overwhelming, don’t wait until it’s dark outside to get everything done.
This winter, don’t let the darker days consume you. Instead, use them to your advantage and take this opportunity to rest, reset and reflect.
If you find yourself overwhelmed, take a deep breath, redirect your thoughts and remember that 24-hour days are promised to us year-round, not just seasonally.
