What to do About Mid-Winter Blues

By February 15, winter is no longer a season—it’s a personality flaw.

The holidays are packed up, the twinkle lights are gone, Valentine’s Day has just wrapped up its emotional rollercoaster, and spring is still playing hard to get. The sun sets before dinner, your motivation is on vacation, and even the idea of “getting excited” feels like a big ask.

If you’ve been feeling low-energy, unmotivated, cranky for no specific reason, or just generally blah, congratulations—you’re having a very normal mid-winter experience. Not a meltdown. Not a personal failure. Just a seasonal slump that hits right about the time winter overstays its welcome and refuses to read the room.

So how do you muddle through the mid-winter ho-hums while anxiously waiting for the lighter days of spring to arrive?

First things first: let's acknowledge that February has booby traps strategically placed throughout the month. We start the month with Groundhog Day. If that's not a setup for disappointment, I don't know what is. Then there's a brief period of calm until the 14^th comes around. Yep...Valentine's Day where you're either looking forward to a romantic candy-filled day, unaffected by the holiday, or on the brink of tears at the mere thought of it. But wait. There's more. You're teased with the month only lasting 28 (or 29 on leap year) days; though it can feel twice as long just because of the weather. February...the “keep yourself alive and reasonably pleasant” month. Short days, long nights, cold weather, and limited sunlight mess with your brain chemistry whether you believe in that stuff or not. Your body is wired to slow down, rest more, and conserve energy, while modern life expects you to operate at full capacity like it’s June.

That disconnect alone can make you feel like something is wrong with you. Nothing is. You’re reacting appropriately to a season that is objectively kind of depressing. Once you stop trying to force happiness and productivity on yourself, you’ll notice a weird thing happens—you feel lighter. Lowering expectations isn’t quitting; it’s adjusting to reality.

One of the biggest traps of mid-winter is waiting to feel motivated before you do anything. That’s adorable, but it’s not how February works. Motivation this time of year is flaky at best. (We like our pie crust flaky not our motivation.) It will not arrive with a grand speech and a vision board.

What does work is doing small things first and letting your mood catch up later. Getting up, getting dressed, and doing one mildly productive thing—even if you complain the whole time—counts. Movement, action, and momentum are mood-boosters, even when enthusiasm is nowhere to be found.

Think of it like starting a cold car. You don’t wait for the engine to be warm before turning the key. You turn the key, let it grumble a bit, and trust that eventually it’ll cooperate. You are the car. February is the cold.

And then there’s the light issue. Or rather, the lack-thereof issue.

By mid-winter, a lot of people are basically living in the dark—waking up before sunrise, working indoors all day, and watching the sun disappear before they’ve even decided what’s for dinner. Your brain notices this. Loudly.
Sunlight helps regulate mood, sleep, and energy, and when it’s missing, your internal systems get a little dramatic. Even brief exposure to natural light can help reset things. Open the blinds. Get some actual daylight on your face. Step outside for a minute—even if it’s cold. If nothing else, park yourself by a window and let your brain remember the sun still exists.

If winter hits you especially hard, light therapy lamps exist for a reason. This isn’t weakness—it’s biology. You’re not lazy; you’re underlit.

Another sneaky culprit of the mid-winter blues is sameness. Same rooms. Same routines. Same view. Same couch indentation that knows you far too well.

When everything looks the same day after day, your brain goes into low-power mode. It craves novelty, even small doses of it. Changing your environment—even slightly—can wake you up in ways that are disproportionate to the effort involved.

Sit somewhere new. Rearrange a room. Work from a coffee shop. Take a different route when you walk. Winter already shrinks your world; you don’t have to let it shrink your experiences too.

Sometimes a “fresh start” is literally just moving the chair.

And speaking of moving things, you need to move too. Let me clarify my meaning. This is not about punishing workouts or suddenly becoming a morning gym person. This is about reminding your body that it is alive and capable of circulation.

Gentle, doable movement can lift mood without draining what little energy you have. A short walk, some stretching, light strength work, or even dancing in the kitchen because the song hits just right—all of it counts. If the idea of your workout makes you dread tomorrow, it’s doing too much.

Winter movement should support you, not intimidate you.

Food plays a role too, and not in a “cut carbs and change your life” way. More in a “please don’t run exclusively on caffeine and vibes” way.

Winter has a way of nudging people toward skipped meals, junk food, and comfort food spirals that leave you feeling worse than before. You don’t need perfection—just a little intention. Eating enough protein, staying hydrated, and occasionally consuming something green can stabilize your energy more than you realize.

Taking care of your body isn’t about discipline; it’s about kindness. You deserve to be properly fueled not starved or fattened.

And listen—if you’re not laughing, you’re missing a critical coping tool.

Laughter doesn’t fix everything, but it absolutely takes the edge off. Watch a comedy TV show. Enjoy that comfort movie filled with lines you could quote in your sleep, or that go-to rom-com that you've watched a dozen times. Send the silly meme. Lean into humor that requires zero emotional labor.

Winter already takes itself seriously. You don’t need to help it.

One last thing that helps more than people admit: having something—anything—to look forward to.

February can feel endless because there’s often nothing on the calendar except obligations. Creating even small pockets of anticipation can shift your entire mindset. Meet your bestie for coffee, brunch or an afternoon dessert indulgence on a random Tuesday. Start that project you’re already excited about. Host a potluck game night with friends.

Having events to look forward to doesn’t need to be dramatic. They just need to exist.