Career Advice
5 Hacks To Not Let The Winter Blues Affect Your Job Hunt
Glassdoor Team
Glassdoor Team | Author & Career Expert at Glassdoor | 6 Nov 2017
You’ve still not found your dream job and to make matter worse, the weather is cold, there’s a lack of daylight, and all you want to do is stay under the duvet.
Somehow you have to find the motivation to drag yourself out from under that duvet and get on with your job hunt, no matter how much you don’t want to. The worst thing you can do is give in to the winter blues because a dangerous downward spiral could emerge. You feel the blues because of winter, but then come more blues because you don't do anything to get a job, you have to nip it in the bud immediately.
Here are a few things you can do to beat the winter blues and continue with your job hunt.
Let there be light
Some people suffer more than others when there’s a lack of daylight, and there are people who have it so severe that they find it incredibly hard to function. It has a name; it's called seasonal affective disorder. Without the right levels of daylight, our bodies can fail to trigger the right amount of hormones to make us feel wide awake and ready for the day ahead. Try and get outside as much as possible, just going for a walk can help, move your table or chair by the window and make sure the blinds are up to allow daylight into the room. Because this happens to more and more people during fall and winter, you can now purchase medically certified SAD light therapy boxes, and sufferers report improved moods from using them.
Get active
When you’re hiding under the duvet the last thing on your mind is to go for a jog, but if you do, you’ll feel more inclined to be more active because the endorphins you release will improve your mood. It doesn’t have to be jogging it can be anything that gets your heart racing and makes you slightly out of breath. The benefits are endless, a better immune system, increased blood flow, more stamina, weight loss and a reduction in anxiety and stress.
Reward yourself
Research shows that job seekers apply for an average of 27 positions to get one interview. Each time you get an interview, it’s a huge deal, and you should celebrate it. Put in the work, apply for jobs, make the calls, send the CVs but also make sure you know how you’re going to reward yourself when you get offered an interview. The reward doesn’t have to be much; it could just be taking a couple of hours off to watch a good film or catching up with some friends. Rewards are important because small wins during the job hunt will lift your mood.
Eat well
It’s too easy to reach out for another bar of chocolate but if you do it’s going to contribute to you feeling sluggish. If you desperately need a chocolate fix then opt for dark chocolate as it has super antioxidant capabilities which boost your health, that boost is needed this time of year. Other good foods to eat to beat the winter blues are blueberries, broccoli, fish, as well as plenty of foods containing vitamin D “the sunshine vitamin,” like milk, egg yolks, and mushrooms.
Stay social
When you get an invite to hang out with some friends, don’t turn down the offer. You might not feel like socialising but once you leave the isolation of your house and start mixing with people your happiness levels will rise. Staring at the same four walls can contribute to winter blues, there’s even a name for it, cabin fever. Humans are social creatures by nature, even brief interactions with other humans can help.
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Glassdoor Team
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