A simple Winter survival guide

for anyone who finds the darker months difficult

Nov 20, 2024

I used to love winter.
Back when I lived in Manchester I’d drag friends out to the Pennines at the first glimpse of distant snow. I loved the boots and the scarves and the steaming hot cider of it all. And while I do still enjoy all of those things - but slowly, something bleaker has crept in.

I think it was the second Covid lockdown that ultimately did it.
Those long dark days when we were forbidden - legally, actually forbidden - from socialising or seeing family and friends. It feels incredible now to recall it again, but trapped, sick and caught in a wave of national depression, that claustrophobic winter left its mark on me.

It’s like I’m almost afraid of it, now. I eye the calendar in September with increasing dread; scared, I suppose, of falling into that bleakness again. I’ve found it’s really important for me to be proactive about not letting that happen. I’ve found that surviving winter, these days, takes a little bit of work.

Below are the things I have found to help me the most. Some of them will sound obvious, but with my energy and mobility both somewhat limited right now, it’s taken time for me to balance them out.
These are my non-negotiables now; the things I can lean on to keep me afloat.

I hope maybe they’ll be helpful to you too.

1. Prioritise sunlight

Forget snow days - sun days are the real ones that count. Those rare, dazzling mornings when the sky is ice blue and the sunlight is dazzling - that is my cue.
I make as much space in my schedule as possible, and spend the day prioritising that light.
Some days that means reading in a hot triangle of golden light on the sofa (perpetually draped in cats). Other times, I might actually get to go out in it, for a chilly dog walk in a nearby park.
In my head, there’s a mental map of every local cafes with winter outdoor seating and what time the sunlight hits perfectly on each. Coats on, warm cups in our hands, the steam making fairytale curlicues in the air.
The sun tops up my batteries like I’ve got big plastic panels on my head.

Ways to prioritise sunlight:

Make it an unequivocal essential. Find the sunniest patches on your home, rearranging your furniture if necessary. Open all your curtains fully, pull up the blinds, clear off any clutter from your window ledges. Get outside. Find cafes or libraries with big sunny windows or outdoor seating where you can read, meet friends and work. Take your morning coffee out to your garden or doorstep, wrapped in a blanket if needed. Use a SAD lamp to put on your makeup each day. Make sunshiney playlists and listen to them on repeat. Sit on a bench somewhere and breathe.

2. Touch nature

“Touch grass” is a refrain for the chronically online, but in winter it’s probably good advice for most of us. Small interactions with nature - feeding the birds, making a wreath, potting up bulbs for spring - are some of my favourite ways to get a quick snack of joy. There’s something both grounding and uplifting in these acts that is more than the sum of its parts. I think it’s about doing something eternally human, unchanged and repeated by so many people through time. We’re supposed to be connected like this, to nature and the seasons. We’re supposed to get our hands dirty with it.

Ways to touch nature:

Buy and arrange fresh flowers (after Christmas the 99p daffodils will be back!). Forage for evergreens and make a simple wreath. Plant hyacinth bulbs in newspaper pots. Make a windowsill greenhouse, or a Walstad-style bowl filled with aquarium plants (this is next on my list!). Feed the ducks in the park (but with duck food, not bread products, please.) Tend to your house plants. Replace your houseplants when you still somehow end up killing them. Get a bird feeder and go broke trying to keep it topped up. Sow lavender seeds for a slow grow into spring. Pet a cat. Adopt a hedgehog.

3. Get out

This one is implied, I suppose, in the last suggestions, but it’s important enough to still deserve its own place. When the weather is grim it’s so easy to slip into semi-hibernation. If you have a job you commute to it’s a little easier, but when you’re working from home the days can blur into one.

Instead of forcing myself to do big, outside activities on the most drizzly of days, I nudge myself to take small steps instead. Re-filling the bird feeders for the millienth time. Buying eggs from the honesty box just down the lane. In the depths of my lockdown despair I even counted taking the bins out or getting something from the car as a trip to the outside world 😂. Sometimes just putting your shoes on and shutting the door behind you is a big enough step.

This winter we’ve swapped our car for a converted camper van for day trips and overnight adventures on the moors. It’s magical to snuggle up on the blankets, heating on with the doors thrown open to a cold grey sky and a dramatic Yorkshire landscape. Open doors, wearing shoes? That counts as outside enough for me.

Ways to get out on shitty days:

Go for a drive and call a friend (handsfree, of course). Visit a cafe and make a pot of tea last an hour. Work from a cafe or library. Have a car picnic; eat fish and chips while the rain bounces off the roof. Walk your dog (or the dog of a neighbour). Buy bread from the bakery and soak in the smell. Walk in the park with a takeaway coffee. Buy that thing from a shop instead of ordering online. Walk to the nearest postbox under a fabulous umbrella. Meet a friend to walk around Ikea when it’s too cold and dark outside. Find the nearest place with sunshine and drive there, then repeat Number 1.

4. Get a Heated Throw

Listen. I know there’s nothing groundbreaking about suggesting warmth in winter, but some of you out there have never experienced the unique and incredible coziness of a heated throw - and this needs to be fixed. By throw, I mean an electric over-blanket - not the white sheepskin kind that your grandma had in bed. These things are my favourite. Like sliding into a hot bath but without having to take off your clothes. They make you cozy even when the whole house is freezing. They also make you completely irresistible to the cats.

I don’t usually feel the cold much, and tend to be deathly chilled before I think to reach for a cardigan. Being able to regulate my warmth within 30 seconds has kind of changed my life, and I’m sure our winter energy bills have benefitted too. When I had a COVID again recently, it was the only thing that kept my constant shivering at bay. As far as I’m concerned, heated throws are up there with robot vacuums and home IPL devices as wonders of the gadget world.
One word of warning, though: most will break within the first 12 months no matter what you do. The one exception I’ve found is the Dreamland ones. I’ve had mine for 3+ years now, and the ones gifted are still going strong too.

5. Observe the traditions

Ever noticed how many of our festivals and traditions take place in the winter? Halloween and Bonfire night, ~~my birthday~~, Michelmas, the Winter solstice, American Thanksgiving, Diwali and Hanukkah and Christmas and more. It makes sense, of course; the dark months of winter are when we need some sparkle the most.

I often think about the families who must have lived in our house back in time. It was built in the 1700s, so it’s seen quite a few, all walking the same stairs, using the same ancient fireplaces that we still tend to today. Fighting the cold like an actual enemy. Keeping faith that the sun would return as usual.

On Bonfire Night we saw bright, blazing fires over on distant valley hillsides - other little towns and villages miles away. A glowing beacon in the dark. Like the Romans used to do, I think, as some sort of communication system?
In the pitch black, it was mesmerising. Heartwarming, in an inexplicable and ancient sort of way.

Ways to observe the traditions:

Light a bonfire in the woods. Knit mittens, or a terrible, hole-filled scarf. Collect firewood and kindling. Bake traditional recipes that make the house smell of spice. Bring twinkling light into your home in the evenings with candles and fairy lights instead of LED bulbs. Take a walk to see the Christmas lights. Make seasonal crafts like wreaths, salt-dough decorations, paper chains and stars. Light a candle while you’re working and blow it out when you’re done. Look for celebrations and festivals you can attend nearby. Light sparklers, at any given opportunity. Take sweet treats round to your friends and neighbours. Fill the house up with evergreens - a hopeful symbol of life. Forage for chestnuts or mushrooms (maybe even the magic ones). Throw a feast for all of your favourite human beings. Make your dog wear a Santa hat. Worship whatever is holy to you.

6. Romanticise the ordinary

Sometimes the best moments in life take a little bit of work.
Scrolling on your phone by the radiator just isn’t the same as reading a yellow-tinged paperback by the fire. Both are warm and involve reading, but they do not make us feel the same.
Sunday lunch is much more of an occasion than reheated takeaway.
Coffee tastes better from your favourite mugs.
Raining? Time to sit in the window and journal. Life is sweeter when you play the lead in your own trashy romcom and romanticise your life a bit.

Ways to create more magic:

Make pancakes with maple syrup in the morning, just because you can. Light the nice scented candles you’ve been saving. Invite friends over and make things pretty and fancy. Buy an old copy of pride and prejudice from a charity shop. Actually cook from your recipe books. Write in notebooks in beautiful settings. Read your tarot cards and only accept a magnificent future. Ride the carousel. Put candles on the dinner table, even when it’s just leftover pasta. Take your big camera out with you. Decide you’re going to learn to paint watercolours. Wear vintage night gowns to lounge on the sofa (I know, I know - I haven’t put my collection online yet!) Get an incredibly flamboyant umbrella. Put your phone down for a minute. Again and again and again.

7. Look to Spring

Look. As much as I’m trying to embrace the winter months, I’m still always ready for the end. And Spring is never that far away - the signs all creep in when you slow enough to look. Besides, Spring is a mindset as much as a season. As the Danish poet Emil Aarestrup put it: within you is a world of spring. It’s just a question, then, of accessing it.

Ways to look to Spring:

Plant new bulbs in January. Bake a lemon drizzle cake. Take short walks where you hunt for the early signs of nature returning. Put up bird boxes by your house. Take home the brightest, springiest flowers from the supermarket. Make a countdown calendar and cross off the days. Buy a floral dress and wear it with thick tights and a cardigan. Cram your flowerbeds with daffodil bulbs, or guerrilla plant some on the side of the road. Paint your toenails a dreamy shade of pastel. Buy a baby chick and fall in love. Buy some more and become a home chicken keeper.