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Hey {{ first name | there }}! Welcome back to The Flow by Flocus. If you’re new around here, welcome! 👋 You can catch up on our previous editions right here.
This week: We’re digging into a challenge most everyone faces: adjusting to seasonal changes, particularly where daylight hours are concerned. Let’s dig into how seasonal shifts impact the body, mind, and soul, plus some simple ways to adjust.
⏳ Seasonal Changes 101
If you’re in the northern hemisphere, you’ve probably noticed it’s dark by 5pm these days. And you might dread the clocks “falling back” each year. (We feel your pain!)
Southern hemisphere friends, you’re getting the longer days and heading into summer. But more literal sunshine doesn’t always mean life’s bright; this shift has its challenges, too.
Wherever you are, seasonal changes like these aren’t always the most wonderful time of year for our routines and schedules:
🫨 They can make us feel “off”, and we might not connect it to why we’re more tired, flatter, or overall less motivated.
❄️ For those of us up north, this is deeper than just “winter blues”. The light shift really does change your energy, sleep, and how long the day feels.
☀️ For those in the southern half of the world, longer days also mean events that are equally exciting and exhausting: vacations, social events, and holiday celebrations.
Any change in seasons (both literal and figurative, internal and external) can really knock us sideways. Read on for a closer look at why they hit so hard and small ways you can adjust.
Why Seasonal Shifts Mess With Our Minds
Losing, then gaining an hour of sleep every 6 months is literally exhausting for those observing Daylights Savings Time (which was only invented in the 1910s).
Even if you live somewhere that doesn’t turn the clocks, your time spent in daylight and darkness will still fluctuate, causing subtle yet impactful changes in your body.
☀️ How daylight tricks our bodies and brains
More daylight → tricks the productive mind into working / being active until later
Less daylight → brings on the afternoon slump earlier
We tend to associate longer days with greater happiness and freedom. Meanwhile, the shorter days tend to feel like a bad omen.
This doesn’t always hold true, though. And a major consequence of both “tricks” (especially in a modern, capitalist society) is more work for less play, rest, and relaxation.
🌖 How the darkness disrupts our daily routines
Extended darkness can feel isolating and depressing, especially if it’s already dark out when your workday ends.
Shorter evenings, though, can also leave us without enough room for our usual wind-down flows. We might feel rushed to cram everything in after working or socializing ‘til late.
However much darkness we’re getting, it can be easy to default to the couch + screen combo in all seasons. Scrolling is low effort, which is great for vegging out after a busy summer day. And it’s also a boredom-buster, perfect for filling in those endless evenings indoors.
We’ve touched on this already, but the sun and moon aren’t the only things influencing your schedule. Wherever your “peak” seasons are, your rhythms tend to change as your calendar fills up.
To complicate things, these seasonal shifts often require us to prioritize specific areas of life, and redirect our energy from one responsibility to another.
Adjusting to the seasons is hard. And so is prioritizing and effectively distributing our limited focus reserves. Doing both at the same time? That’s a master-level skill.
The good news is, there are some simple ways to adjust — scroll on to discover them!
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Now, here’s how to start rebalancing!
💆 How to Adjust
🚛 To any seasonal shift
😌 Go easy on yourself for the first couple of weeks; it takes time to ease in. Your “seasons” may not align exactly with the cosmos, so wherever they fall, build in a buffer for adjusting
🫖 Make time for replenishment. Self-care is crucial, so carve out time for whatever practices help you feel balanced (journaling, creativity, etc.)
🥑 Get a boost with superfoods, vitamins, supplements, etc. The amount of sunlight you get directly impacts your body’s vitamin intake. Eating whole, clean foods and taking vitamins you might be getting less of is a simple way to feel better.
🌖 To short days and long nights:
☀️ Get daylight early. Morning light (even 10 mins outside or by a window) helps reset your energy for the rest of the day
🧸 Make long evenings feel intentional. Soft lighting, a cozy ritual, and something to look forward to can make all the difference to your mental state
🧺 Front-load harder work while it’s still light out, and save easier stuff for after dark. Do what works best for your brain here, of course!
🌛 Swap summer routines for darker season versions (walk at lunch instead of after work, etc)
☀️ To long days and short nights:
⏰ Set boundaries and alarms to avoid losing track of time while working. This goes double for those working from home who may not have set hours
📦 Avoid overcramming your days because of “FOMO”. Hanging out with your faves and “making the most” of those longer days takes as much energy as working and studying. Take care not to overexert yourself, and make time for breaks and rest.
⚖️ Balance the types of rest you get. There’s a difference between “passive” rest (napping, sleeping, couch-potato-ing) and “active” rest (hiking, reading, yoga). Make sure you’re getting enough of both in this season, where “passive” rest feels harder than normal to achieve.
🪅 Flocus Picks
A curated list of things worth sharing.
More Tips for Adjusting to the Clock Change (Article) — 5 more techniques to reset your body and brain when the clocks “fall back”
How to Feel Less “Off” (The Flow Archives) — What’s behind that vague feeling of restlessness we often experience, and how to tell when it’s your body (and not your brain) that needs more stimulation
How to Soothe Yourself While in Distress (The Flow Archives) — All about “self-soothing”, a skill you can use to calm yourself when you’re unable to change things immediately
✨ Flocus: Your Personal Productivity Dashboard
Whether your days are getting shorter or longer, a steady workspace helps. Flocus gives you a calm dashboard with ambient sounds and backgrounds, so you can bring a bit of sunshine (or cozy night vibes) to your focus, whatever the sky is doing.
🗳️ POLL: How are you feeling about the season shift?
Wherever in the world you are, seasonal changes are an inevitable yet tricky part of modern life. Adjusting can take time and effort, but being intentional makes all the difference.
Are you struggling with the changing of the seasons this year? (It’s hitting us harder than usual!) Share your tips, routines, and insights in the replies!
Until next Sunday,
Flocus Team
🧑🎄 Social schedules change with the seasons, too