Getting out of the November Blues
Getting out of the November Blues is an annual exercise for me. I’m sure you’ve noticed the arrival of winter by now – the avalanche of brilliant red-golden leaves falling from trees, the shortening of precious daylight hours, and the sudden briskness in the breeze. While the beauty of a European fall is unparalleled, the shorter days and cold weather herald a period of demotivation and negative feelings for some people. For me, the “Zurich fog” in November can get to me.
The thought of November Blues could be overwhelming. So, I have thought about ways to make November bearable for all of us. First, I would like you to join our workshop on 29 November that Pragati Siddhanti is hosting. I will explain the basics of stress and anxiety and also give you valuable tips to get out of your rat race.
Dealing with loneliness is doubly tough when you are an expat who just arrived here. Feeling stressed, lonely, and sad can affect your work performance and your everyday life. So today, I’d like to discuss ways to keep ourselves inspired and motivated through the November Blues and the impending winter months, especially if we don’t have a family here.
1 – Stick to an Exercise Routine and Meal Plan
A productive routine is key to keeping your mind sharp, and exercise keeps your mind and body in tip-top shape—combine the two, and you have a recipe for staying motivated in the coming seasons!
For most people, exercise means taking a trip to the gym. Don’t worry if you are one of those who cringe at the thought of indoor gyms. Instead, you can take advantage of the wonderful sights and sounds that fall affords us and take up cycling or jogging. The double endorphin release of exercise and beautiful scenery is a great way to stay positive and inspired about your daily life.
Note, though, that it is important to strike the right balance with the rest of your routine. Most people enter exercise with a lot of passion and overdo it, which kills motivation quickly.
Start slow, perhaps with a 25-minute walk on two or three days a week, and try to follow the schedule. That is more important than straining your body too much.
You should also develop a meal plan for every day that includes many fresh vegetables and greens. Make sure you include lemons, apples, and other Vitamin-C deliverers.
2 – Improve your Sleep Cycle
Another critical component of improving your health is fixing and improving your sleep regimen. In today’s always-on era, we are all guilty, to a certain extent, or taking actions that poorly affect the quality of our sleep. So here is a short primer on how to get better, more refreshing sleep daily:
Take your mobile devices to bed. Please give them a place in your home outside of your bedroom where you place them by 9 pm. After you’ve put your phone to bed, please don’t touch it anymore. Use the “sleep” mode to block incoming messages. Turn off the buzzers.
Stop using all electronic devices two hours before you want to sleep. Studies show that the light emitted by screens can interfere with the body’s natural sleep-wake rhythms. Instead, consider going to bed with a novel or other light reading (again, not on devices).
Practice relaxation techniques such as PMR. Progressive Muscle Relaxation is especially beneficial for reducing muscle tension caused by psychological stress and has a proven rejuvenating effect if practiced regularly.
Get up at the same time every morning. This loops back to the discussion on how routine-building benefits physical and mental health.
3 – Get out of the Worry Trap
The Worry Trap is a feeling of being anxious and troubled over potential problems. It is a type of futuristic thinking about events in a way that leaves you uneasy and apprehensive. The back and forth around integrating into and adapting to a new culture as an expat can be inundating, from experiencing culture shock to trying to create a new professional network to the thought of being cautious not to catch Coronavirus. The most appealing response to this situation is obviously “Worry”. Ironically, what we worry about most often does not happen. Worry is just mental clutter that incapacitates you from taking meaningful steps and doing worthwhile things. It blocks your brain from being productive.
Hence, try not to fall into that trap! You may want to ask how. Let’s see.
Be present. Whilst it is good to be futuristic in one’s approach, do not allow the thought of tomorrow to take the joy of today away from you.
Read a book. It is proven that reading helps reduce stress and anxiety. Opening a book allows you to be invited into a literary world that distracts you from your daily stressors.
Ask for help. As simple as this sounds, it is a proven means of easing tension and offloading burdens. Asking for help from the right person is not a sign of weakness. It is, in fact, a sign of how strong you have been.
4 – Learn a Creative Skill
An unforeseen consequence of expatriation is just how much every aspect of it takes over your life – from the learning curve of the new job to the transactional tasks of integrating into a new culture and country. By the end of the day, you may have no time left for your growth. In the scenario described above, it can be tough to carve out regular time to develop creative skills that interest you, especially if you don’t have an accountability buddy or coach to keep you motivated.
How does one find inspiration? I find that duplicating or being a part of what the creative community does every fall is an excellent way to build new relationships and spend time on yourself. You could participate in National Novel Writing Month (NoNoWriMo), where large swathes of communities online and offline get together to create and explore their artistic sides daily for the duration of that month. We have our very own Zurich writer’s community supporting you with the Woolf.
If such creative endeavors appeal to you, definitely pursue them! Otherwise, you can utilize the same template for whatever skill you want to develop. Devote a fixed amount of time daily where, distraction-free, you engage in a specific skill-building activity. As with the previous suggestion on exercise, routine, and regularity is critical!
This is why I encourage you to write those 25-minute practices into your RockMeApp and tick them off at the end of the week. A good practice would be: “On 5 days out of 7, I’m writing my long-hand diary 25 minutes a day to develop a writing routine.”
5 – Join our “Theatre Club”
We started a WhatsApp group for going to the theatre since the Schauspielhaus Zurich introduced English-speaking subtitles. This is an example of a group you could join. Search on Meet-Up for anything you are interested in, and I am sure you will find it. If you would like to go out more to cultural events please get in touch with us. We have a WhatsApp Group called Theatre Club for this purpose. Email me angela@globalpeopletransitions.com your phone number to be added to my Theatre Club.
6 – Support and Help as a Volunteer
I recommend that if you are feeling a bit low in November, you find a group where you can help out as a volunteer. Helping others for the sake of being a good human being and without an agenda behind it usually raises your energy level. You can limit it to 3 hours a week so you don’t burn out, but try to see if this works for you. If you have no idea how to volunteer, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We have an overview of associations and can recommend contacts for you.
Read my publication “The Global Rockstar Album – 21 Verses to Find Your Tact as an Inclusive Leader“.
