Usually at this point in the year I start complaining about seasonal dark, associated mood disorders, and the practical challenge of bike commuting and needing headlights, reflective gear etc.
See Struggling with September Sadness and The night is (soon to be) dark and full of terrors.
Occasionally over the years I’ve managed some good feelings about the dark and about September which brings more of it into my life. See I like it in the dark: Winter and the joys of night time riding and running and Sam is Telling New Stories. But mostly they’re bad news blog posts.
This year I’m working from home. The challenges are different. I can see that it might be dangerous to work all day and only think about leaving the house in the dark.
I’m going to try to make sure I leave the house during the day to get outside in the daylight even if I don’t have anywhere particular to go. Cheddar doesn’t care about goals. He’s just happy to walk. Or run!
As a back up plan, I’m also bringing my anti-SAD lamp home from work. It’s not needed there now I am only in my office on Wednesdays. I’m also reading about how people who cope with much more dark than we do get by and even seem to enjoy it.
As we enter the double whammy of fall dark and the second wave of COVID-19 and associated shut-downs, what are you doing to keep some light in your life?
My light is in my office. Apparently we are returning (again) by November 2.
If things don’t go that way, and we stay at home, I will also have to come up with a better day to day plan. I did go to 6 am yoga yesterday, and tried lunch hour yoga today.
If I can manage to make it to yoga most days things will be good….
It’s very easy to stay in my pjs all day.
Anne
This is a really good reminder for me. I think one of the reasons I’ve managed relatively well through this is having daily gone outside for some form of exercise whether it be a bike trip down the street to pick up a trailer full of groceries, a run, or a 200 km ride. But almost all of that was done during daylight. I may have to do as you do and build in some trips outdoors in the middle of the work day. And maybe this is the year I invest in a lamp as well. Winters are tough for me anyway and every year I say “This will be the year I learn to enjoy them.” but this year more than ever I think I need to follow through on that.
Right? I’m thinking of switching my workday around a bit to deliberately take time off around noon and work later. I used to get some outdoor time walking around campus in winter for meetings or bike commuting. This is definitely the year to be deliberate about it. I find the bright lamp in the morning helps.
That’s a good idea. I may not be able to be firm in the routine of *exactly* when the break happens but I need to take it. In the past couple of winters I would do lots of Zwift rides but of course that’s all indoors. I could see falling victim to just ordering groceries, riding Zwift and staying indoors from November to April. My state of mind will not be good if I do that.