As tree leaves start to turn orange and drop, it is easy to fall into a monotonous pattern that feels lethargic and tiring.

It can be really hard to self-motivate when the days are shorter and darker and the social life of summer seems to have fallen away. Here are some useful suggestions for how to maintain that ever-important motivation in the coming winter months.

So, let’s look at 5 tips you can easily implement to keep motivated during winter. 

1. Keep Yourself Happy 

When it is winter time, melancholy and drear can weave its way into your life through the post summer blues.

Therefore, it is vital that you surround yourself with people that boost you up, not bring you down. By being surrounded by the ‘right’ people, you are able to access emotional and motivational support – which is essential for keeping self-motivated throughout winter. 

You can achieve this by ensuring you schedule some dedicated meet-up time with your friends and family, joining some groups to meet new people or simply making time for yourself and what makes you happy. 

Think hobbies, self-care, quality time, reading good books, making the most of the hours of light outdoors. What will resonate and get that oxytocin flowing is unique to you, so get your happy thinking hat on before winter strikes. 

2. Keep Your Exercise Warm

It can feel really difficult to stay motivated in winter to do exercise – especially as in the summer it is easy to benefit from warm, bright walks and runs, and even activities such as sea swimming and cycling.

We understand that in winter these activities are not always possible.

Thus, it is beneficial to consider other activities to spice up your exercise routine. For example, there are local activities such as hot yoga (which definitely is warm), inside gym use, and indoor swimming.

All of these do not require exposure to the elements and keep you fit!

By keeping exercise warm, there are also health benefits such as keeping your muscles looser and having less propensity for injury. By changing up the forms of exercise done, it encourages you to both stay healthy and motivated during winter. 

3. Keep Your Routine Changing

A key way to maintain motivation in the winter months is by ensuring that your routine is ever-changing.

Motivation can be easily lost if there is too much of a boring pattern throughout the next six months. Therefore, by making sure that there is still a level of excitement (like the spontaneity of summer), this can be radical for maintaining motivation.

For example, by planning weekends away, exploring new parts of your town, or booking a midweek day off from work, these can help the slow pace that winter tends to take. 

Keep yourself on your toes and create a feeling of anticipation, it does not have to be an intercontinental travel or something huge: sometimes it’s the little things that keep us going.

4. Keep (Or Get) Organised 

Winter is a brilliant time to get organised both personally and professionally.

Whilst the busyness of winter might be gone, it is a great excuse to get organised and advance professional goals. A suggestion is perhaps scheduling review sessions at work to talk about next steps, your goals and how your company (etc) can help you achieve these.

By setting clear goals alongside your boss, you are able to negotiate and be at a clear understanding about your progression and corporate desires.

Thus, winter is a great time to spend a little bit more time on your professional development. 

And when it comes to being (or getting) organised personally, the possibilities are endless: think about making a plan to achieve your personal goals, use those long winter nights to re-organise your home and consider a bullet journal. All these steps will help you getting a better grip on your day-to-day without losing motivation during the cold months.

5. Keep Your Aims In Mind 

As reiterated several times, it is easy to get into a position where you are lacking any kind of motivation, but a good way to combat that is by setting clear goals personally as well as professionally.

A fun way to set personal goals is by creating a winter bucket list.

Bucket lists are a compilation of all the things you want to do and it becomes an exciting challenge to try and cross them all off.

By having a physical list, this motivates you to actually stick to it and complete as much as you can. Your list can be as long or as short as you would like – but it would be advisable to include at least ten separate articles.

A way to approach the bucket list could be by focussing on one activity each week, which would not require too much of a time commitment. 

Overall, the key to maintaining motivation in the coming winter months is by understanding that it is all about balance, keeping life as exciting as possible, and clarifying what exactly is a priority for you, and what is beneficial for your progress. 

And if you feel like the winter blues are leaving you more drained than you would like, have a look at our article on how to manage SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

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