How to Beat the Winter Blues at Work

It’s February, and between the early morning shoveling, bitter cold treks to the train station, long hours cooped up inside, and limited access to daylight, most of us are fighting a serious case of the winter blues. Also know as the winter doldrums or cabin fever, they can leave you irritated, restless, and unmotivated.



Because you most likely spend 8 hours (or more a day) at the office, which is a vast majority of your waking hours, the best time to fight the winter blues is when you’re at work. Here are some tips for kicking that cabin fever to the curb and getting the most out of your work day.



Get Outside

It’s cold, and even though you have to put on boots, gloves, scarves, hats and coats to venture out into the vast frozen tundra, do it anyways. Get outside for at least a five minute walk around the block sometime during your work day to get your blood pumping, soak in some badly-needed Vitamin D, and cure that cabin fever. After all, you don’t want to turn into Jack Nicholson in "The Shining," do you?



Turn Up the Music

Nothing beats the winter blues like some warm-weather music. Make a playlist on your Ipod, or create a new station on Pandora, that features Reggae, Calypso, or New Orleans style jazz. Need some artists to help you get inspired? Check out music by Bob Marley, Jimmy Buffet, Steel Pulse, Yellowman, Sister Nancy, Peter Tosh, The Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, Lord Kitchener, Lord Invader, Louis Armstrong, and Jelly Roll Morton.



Organize a Weekly Potluck

Part of the problem with winter is that there’s seemingly nothing to look forward to until those first spring buds appear. Organize a weekly potluck to give you and your co-workers a reason to look forward to the work week. If you can plan your menus to involve tropical and warm weather food (think summer barbeque, Jamaican jerk-style entrees, Cuban sandwiches, etc.), you’ve got another weapon in your fight against the winter blues.



Get Away and Learn Something New

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut in the wintertime. Now’s a great time to attend a seminar, participate in a conference, or enroll in a program that will help you brush up on your skills, network with colleagues, and learn what’s new in your industry. If you’re not sure how to find these kinds of events, find the website, blogs, and Twitter feeds for the thought leaders in your industry. If there’s an event, conference, or networking opportunity going on, this is a great place to learn more about it (and even sign up). And if the conference just happens to be someplace warm that will get you out of the snow for a few days, that won’t hurt either.