Preparing for Seasonal Affective Season: Part 1
Pardon the cliché but friends, Winter is coming. Seriously. The cold weather months are upon us and that means shorter days, gloomier weather, and the inevitable Seasonal Affective Disorder.
We all dread Seasonal Affective Season, myself included. But this year I’ve decided to try out a new approach. Instead of dreading it, I’m going to welcome it. Think of it like a rock climb. If you start up the climb thinking it’s going to be too hard and you’re going to fail, you will most likely fail because you’re focused more on how hard it is rather than what you need to be doing to get to the top. But if you start the climb thinking it’s going to be hard but I have enough tools and knowledge to make it to the top, you’re setting yourself up for success. And every climb you start up with a dressed for success attitude, the less scary, the less dread you’ll feel starting up that next climb and all the climbs after.
So how am I going to welcome SAD season? Well, this year I’m rolling out my Seasonal Affective Season Plan and my hope is that you will too. My plan has two parts to it. 1.) Top 3 Priorities 2.) Actionable Self-Care. My Top 3 List are the 3 most important things I need to do in order to maintain my mental health and my Actionable Self-Care list is my go to list for when I feel my mood dipping and need ideas on how to boost it or if I’m maintaining my Top 3 and want to add in a forth or fifth item. In this two part series I’ll cover how to create your plan, suggestions for what might be in your plan, and how to implement it even when things get tough.
Identify Your Needs
The key here is to figuring out what you need most to maintain your mental health, to keep you content and moving forward. What do you consistently need to do in order to prevent a downward spiral? Think about how your seasonal depression manifests itself. What do you struggle with most? Take some time to really reflect on what past winter seasons have been like for you or even just how you’ve been since the pandemic lockdown. Talk to those closest to you who might be able to provide some insight. Your plan is is all about prevention. What do you need to do in order to prevent and combat depressive behaviors? Here are some examples:
- maintaining relationships with partners, significant others, friends, family
- exercise
- healthy eating habits
- getting out of your home
- creating a support system
- regular sleep/good sleep hygiene
- asking for help/communicating with your support system
- therapy/support groups
- getting outside and into nature
- having a trip or weekend getaway to look forward to
- spend less money/maintain balanced finances
- keeping up with your favorite hobby or passion project
- going to doctor appointments
- keeping up with household chores
Prioritize Your Needs
Now that you have a list of things you know you need to do in order to maintain your mental health, choose a top 3. We’re not nixing all the others, we’re just prioritizing in order to avoid getting overwhelmed.
For me, number one is exercise. No matter what I do for my mental health, if I’m not exercising then nothing else will work. That may sound defeatist to some but it’s just the brutally honest truth.
Number two is maintaining communication about my mental health with my partner. We live together and when I feel my mood slipping, I tend to try and hide it in an attempt to not worry him. This leads to inevitable resentment which leads to fighting and so on. By being honest with him in how I’m doing, I not only spare myself the pressure of having to wear a fake smile but it makes him aware and gets him on top of his supporter role which sometimes even means him bringing home surprise desserts.
Number 3 is getting out of my apartment. Isolation is always bad news for me and is a sure sign that I’m getting depressed. In order to combat and prevent isolation, I make a mindful and intentional effort to leave the apartment. This means that when I leave home or am getting ready to leave, I’m reminding myself that I’m not just going to get groceries, I’m leaving the apartment to help maintain my mental health.
With all this in mind, choose your top 3 and place them in order starting with most important. Remember, your plan is not set in stone. It’s flexible and should be adjusted and adapted to how you’re doing. If something isn’t working or helping, change it!
Create a Schedule and Make it Realistic
Realistic, measurable, and specific. Keeping it realistic is a great way to maintain motivation. If exercise is in your Top 3 and you currently don’t exercise at all, don’t schedule exercise for 5 days a week, one hour per session. I find that if it’s a short time period, like a half hour workout session, I’m more likely to keep it up if I plan for two days instead of one. If one day a week is most realistic or all you have time for, by all means pencil it in for one. Being realistic also means making sure you’re scheduling something you’ll actually do. If you are adding running to your plan but live someplace that is rainy all winter long and you don’t like running in the rain nor on the treadmill, choose a different type of exercise.
We make it measurable, aka 30 minutes practicing your instrument or reading one chapter of your book a day, so that you have a succinct goal and something to feel proud of once you complete your goal. It’s also a way to hold ourselves accountable so that we don’t try to make up excuses and actually stick to our goals.
Be as specific as you need to be in order to make sure you get it done. And be creative! If one of your goals is to maintain financial stability or to spend less money during the holidays, maybe your way of being specific is not only to have a budget but to set boundaries. Instead of buying holiday gifts for all your friends do a “secret santa” style gift exchange. Host a potluck where everyone brings one dish instead of spending hundreds of dollars to feed your whole extended family. Set those boundaries prior to the holidays and keep it on the Plan to make sure you stick to it.
My Top 3 looks something like this:
1.) Exercise
- Run- Tues morning, to the beach
- Climbing gym- Mon/Wed/Fri after breakfast, 2 hours
This is currently what I already do. Running once a week for me is the most realistic. I don’t love running but it’s the best thing I’ve found for my mental health. I schedule it for once a week because that’s just enough to keep my mood up but not too much that it feels overwhelming which makes me not want to go at all. I love climbing at the gym so 3 days a week is actually really doable for me. 2 hours may seem like a lot but I’m not climbing the whole time so it goes by pretty quickly and I also have the time to do it.
2.) Check in with Dylan
- Every morning with breakfast
Dylan and I sit down and have breakfast together every morning so this one isn’t so much about sticking to the schedule but more about actually being honest with him. Our mornings tend to be about mental preparation for the day so we talk about our plans for the day, how we slept, how we’re feeling, anything we’re stressed or concerned about. The hardest part is being honest with myself about where I’m at mentally and emotionally, so I’ve made sure to ask Dylan to help me with accountability.
3.) Leave the apartment on my own
- Acting Class- Sunday
- Run- Tues, to the beach
- Errands- Thurs morning, errand of my choice
The first for me is easy because it’s something I’ve paid for and know I’ll do. It’s more of a reminder that I’m fulfilling my goals. I’m double dipping with running because it counts! It gets me out of the apartment and is something I do solo. Running one errand a week on my own is the challenge. Leaving the apartment to run errands solo is super hard for me to do when I’m depressed and it’s also a sign that I’m getting depressed when I stop doing it. I chose one day a week because it’s realistic in terms of how many errands I typically have to do in a week and Thursday because it fits with the rest of my schedule.
Final Thoughts
- This plan is all about you and your needs so be honest with yourself
- Make it a realistic challenge; you want your plan to be just challenging enough that it feels like a win every time you complete it, but not so hard that it feels overwhelming and scary to tackle
- Take your time coming up with your Top 3 but also set a deadline! Part 2 is coming out next Monday so maybe give yourself until Sunday night 🙂
Stay tuned for Part 2, where I’ll cover the Actionable Self-Care part of my plan and tricks and tips on how to stick to your plan even when the going gets tough.
📍Main photo was taken in Alabama Hills, Lone Pine in Payahuunadü, which is Nüümü land.
