15 Tips To Help You Spring Forward

This weekend we "spring forward" and turn the clocks ahead by one hour for longer AND brighter days (woooo!).  Recently my "winter mood" has been in full swing. The cold and the darkness have made me unmotivated and less energetic, with lying in my warm bed and staying indoors seeming WAY more appealing than exploring the city, going to the gym, etc. 


I decided I wanted to be ready to tackle the week when I go back to school after Spring Break. I made a list of things to help me "detox" from winter, ditch my mood and help me spring forward with my clocks this weekend. Obviously it's still too early for many of us to ditch the winter coats and whip out our shorts and flip flops, but there are a lot of small things that have inspired me to get back into the swing of things. Without further ado, check it out: 


1. Keep your curtains, blinds and shutters open. Let sunlight hit your face as soon as the sun comes up in the morning. Your body will get a headstart in creating those happy hormones that sunlight gives us, and it will make it more difficult to fall back to sleep once you wake up in the morning.  

2. Switch up your alarm. Whether it's the one you use to wake up in the morning or that reminds you it's time to do something, like take a pill, change it up. In this case, new is always better. Last week I realized that I actually had no idea what my iPhone alarm was because it annoyed me so much that I would shut it off so quickly and end up falling asleep again. If you’re tired of your alarm (a.k.a. if the sound haunts you when you hear it during the day) change it up so it gets you out of bed instead of making you want to stay there longer.

Tip: if you choose to make your alarm a song, don't pick one you like because one day you might resent it every time it comes up when you shuffle your playlists. 


3. Buy something new. Anything. It doesn't matter if its $2.00 or $200. Whether you realize it or not, wearing or using new things whether it be a new pen, organizer, sweater, or eyeliner, you will instantly feel more excited and inspired when you use it. For example, this week I bought a new flavor of EOS lip balm. I honestly wish I could explain how something as small as having my lip balm now taste like passion fruit instead of mint has added a fun surprise to my day, and reminds me that other good changes are coming (no more snowstorms or grey skies please). 


4. Spring clean.....yourself. Exfoliate your skin, take a relaxing bath, get a haircut, wax your legs, do ALL of the masks. Smother yourself in any lotion and potion you can find that makes you feel fresh, pampered and relaxed. If you look good, you feel good. 

5. Go into your bathroom. Open your drawers. Turn on your favourite playlist and then actually spring clean. We always tend to tidy up our closets, bedrooms and counters, but often neglect our cluttered bathroom drawers. If there are things you forgot about, have never touched, or don’t use anymore, re-organize so that you remember you even own these products, give them to a friend, or throw them out. Be ruthless.

7. Reconnect with someone. Many of us have someone we have lost touch with just because life got in the way. Could be someone we haven’t talked to in years, or even a friend we have forgotten to text for the past couple of weeks. Call up someone you haven't spoken to in a while, and grab a coffee with them (virtually or in-person, either will do).

8. Rediscover a hobby or interest. This can be anything from a sport to scrapbooking, or even playing 'Battleship' with your friends and family. Find time in your week to do something more active that you LIKE to do instead of something that you HAVE to do.

9.Create a list of all the small necessities you need to do, and get it all done. I'm talking about all those one-off odd jobs like making dentist appointments, responding to emails, paying bills, etc. Just get it over with.

10. Try to finish things you've already started. A little vague right? I’m referring to all the seemingly insignificant things like books, magazines, TV shows, etc. Even though they seem like minor things in comparison to school/work, it’s probably subconsciously uninspiring to look around your room and see three unfinished books lying around that you’ll “get to when you have time”. You'll feel a lot better once you just power through and work on finishing these things without starting 5 more. It gives you the feeling like you've accomplished something. 


11. Disregard negativity. Personally, a lot of text conversations recently have dwelled on negativity and comparing who is better or worse off. Set a goal to seek out positivity and ignore negative conversations. Steer the conversation away from negativity when texting people who only worsen your winter blues, and if they don't take the hint then stop texting them for a while. Doesn't mean you have to be the super-cheery, over-optimistic friend, but try to remain neutral, change the topic to something more productive or just don't participate in the conversation at all. In the long run, dwelling on negativity does nothing for either of you. 

12. Workout at home. Often in the winter people it's easier to make up excuses about why you can't go to the gym, or go for a run outside. This goes for a variety of other activities. So, don't even let yourself make these excuses. If you want to workout and know you tend to justify skipping the gym because "it's too cold out", do a workout at home. It's 2015; every inch of the internet is full of at-home yoga, pilates and 5-minute ab videos. Use them. 

13. Drink water. Another cliché suggestion, but super important. Especially when we've just spent months drinking warms coffees and teas and forgetting that cold water will actually do us some good.


14. Lounge around productively. You know those evenings where you lie down on the couch or sit down somewhere and don’t get up for hours? Scrolling through things on the internet or watching mindless TV and then realizing that you don’t even remember what you’ve been looking at for the past 3 hours? Yeah, stop doing that. Go for a late night drive, walk your dog, walk your friend’s dog, do something else on this list. ANYTHING. There are other ways to relax without quite literally wasting your time.

15. All of the above? Do it in whatever order you would like. Cut yourself some slack, and adjust this list of tips to suit your own personal needs and interests. Start where you want. For my “Spring Cleaning”, as sad as it is, a huge accomplishment for me was throwing out all of the old things I’ve had pinned on my bulletin board since 2010, so do whatever works best for you.

There it is. 15 tips to help you spring forward. Here’s to better days and not wanting to drown in your lattes and blankets.