{"id":8427,"date":"2011-01-07T05:00:04","date_gmt":"2011-01-07T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=8427&isalt=0"},"modified":"2011-01-07T05:00:04","modified_gmt":"2011-01-07T11:00:04","slug":"how-to-overcome-the-winter-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/how-to-overcome-the-winter-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Overcome the Winter Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s winter here in the northern hemisphere. Longer nights. Shorter days. And more bad weather. This can wreak havoc on your emotional system and your overall energy-level. This is particularly important for us as leaders<\/a>, since our energy is one of the most important things we bring to our teams.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com\/druvo<\/div>\n

I started experiencing mild depression the week before Christmas. For no apparent reason, I started feeling down. This typically began late in the afternoon and continued until bedtime. My energy level was low, and I had a difficult time focusing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One evening, I shared my experience with a friend. He said he was going through the exact same thing. A few nights ago, another friend told me she had similar symptoms. I thought, I’ll bet this is more common than I initially thought.<\/em><\/p>\n

Obviously, if someone is experiencing severe depression, they need to seek professional help. I have friends whose lives have been transformed by antidepressants. However, I fear that some people resort to medication prematurely, before making sure they have the basics covered.<\/p>\n

Here are four items to consider before talking to a professional:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Sleep.<\/strong> Too many of us try to burn the candle at both ends<\/a>. I could get away with this when I was younger, but not now. I need seven hours a sleep a night. Period. I had drifted into a pattern of staying up later than usual while still trying to get up at my normal time. Bad idea.<\/li>\n
  2. Sunlight.<\/strong> This is important to our physical and emotional health. When a deficiency leads to depression, it is called “Seasonal Affective Disorder<\/a>” (SAD). The good news is that you can address this with a simple gadget that replicates sunlight. I bought the Philips goLITE BLUE Light Therapy Device<\/a>. I have been using it for 30 minutes a day while reading in the morning. Not only do I have more energy, I am sleeping better.<\/li>\n
  3. Vitamins.<\/strong> I had let my supply of multivitamins run out. , even though I know vitamins—especially antioxidants—help my body cope with stress. Therefore, I bought a 60-day supply of multivitamins and resumed my regimen. I try to keep this simple. In the past, I have taken a handful of supplements daily and found it difficult time to be consistent, especially when traveling. Now, I take only four capsules a day.<\/li>\n
  4. Exercise.<\/strong> I’m embarrassed to say I was not being consistent here either. Gail and I were hiking on Saturdays, and I was walking or running one other time a week. But this proved insufficient to keeping my energy level up. With the new year, I made a commitment to get back to my four-day-a-week running routine.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I’m happy to report that addressing these four issues did the trick. This won’t work for everyone. But for me, it was enough to make the clouds dissipate. I have not experienced the blues for more than a week.<\/p>\n

    Questions: Do you ever struggle with the winter blues? What do you do to cope? You can leave a comment by clicking here<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I started experiencing mild depression the week before Christmas. Here’s how I overcame it by re-focusing on the basics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":8426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[270,652,267,76,105,1306,1307,1139],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Overcome the Winter Blues<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I started experiencing mild depression the week before Christmas. 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