Digging Yourself Out of the Post-Holiday Slump
By Annie Condodina
Returning to your regularly scheduled routine of school-work-sleep-repeat after the holidays is tough on everyone. When you’re fresh off those couple of weeks when no one is truly responsible for knowing what day of the week it is, it’s difficult to motivate yourself to do even the simple things, such as waking up on time for your 8:30 in Garey or reminding yourself to actually do your reading.
I’ve dubbed this the post-holiday slump: the time of year when you can barely be excited about an inch of snow because it no longer means Christmas, but instead it means you’re heading outside in a parka only to sweat the minute you make it to the third floor of Bartley. We left the reason for the season and all those good vibes in 2019. What’s to look forward to now? Leap Day?
If you’re searching for something to motivate yourself beyond the standard New Year’s resolutions (like working out or starting a One Second Everyday video that you will accidentally forget to do every day), you might consider practicing gratitude.
The greatest thing about practicing gratitude is that it doesn’t really require that you do anything per se. You won’t be kicking yourself in bed at night because you “forgot to practice gratitude,” the way that failing to make it to the gym that day might make you feel. Practicing gratitude is reminding yourself to actively recognize the people and things in your life that you are grateful for, day in and day out - an activity that, in theory, you could do while lying in bed at night kicking yourself for not going to the gym (they are not mutually exclusive activities).
Many swear by the practice of keeping a gratitude journal to write in nightly, reminding oneself of the day by recounting things they were extra thankful for. But instead of simply writing “I am thankful for my dog” or “I am thankful for my friends,” try thinking past the surface. Did someone hold the door for you today, or did your friend buy you a coffee because they knew you really needed it? Those are the types of actions to recognize when practicing gratitude.
If you find yourself in a slump without a resolution, finish out the first month of the decade with a positive outlook on 2020, and try practicing gratitude this year.
