Changing My Winter Mindset

Ok, I’ve got to share something. 

I’ve never been a fan of winter, of cold weather, the snow the frost, any of it. 

In fact, I've had a pretty rotten attitude when it came to winter up until this point.

But this fall I’ve made this conscious decision that I am going to make a real effort this year to change my mindset around winter.

It started with hygee and then when I read an article in The Atlantic about Tromso, Norway that talked about how the people there actually looked forward to "the blue period" or the Polar night where the sun doesn't rise from November to January. (The article was from 2015 but I discovered it as I was digging around the internet). They have a positive mindset when it comes to the darkness, to the cold, they were excited about it each year.

And I thought, damn if they can positive about darkness for three months I bet I can get excited about a few months of cold weather.

So I set out on my mission of changing how I viewed and approached the winter.

I wrote a post last week about “Getting into the Winter Spirit” which takes you through some of my favorite "winter" things I want to do this year. 

And I really have found that fitting in time for all the great parts of winter really makes it a time to savor. 

I used to be such a negative nancy when it came to the cold. I would focus all of my energy on all the negative aspects of it and almost go out of my way to play up the bad things. 

I wouldn’t wear enough layers or bundle up adequately before heading outside, and then be upset about it being too cold. Last year I bought a good quality coat and over bundled myself. 

Back in the day, winter break would come, and while I liked not having class I always disliked the break from my friends. Nowadays I look forward to the holidays because it means family time. 

Another thing I am going to add to this winter that I usually never make time for in the cold months is working out. I have a whole plan for myself, which I’ll be sharing in a post later this month. 

I guess the biggest point I’m trying to make here is that winter isn’t inherently worse than summer. It’s just different. But just like how summer has it’s cons, winter has its pros. But it’s your job to find them. 

It’s on you to find what you like about winter or would like, and to focus on that. And to prepare yourself when it comes to the cold and colds. 

So put on some fluffy socks and wrap yourself in an oversized cardigan, grab a mug of something hot, and snuggle around the fireplace with some of the people you love. And I promise you’ll start loving winter more and more too. 

Cleaning | Clutter Drives Me Bonkers

It’s true. It drives me nuts. I can’t think clearly. I have a really hard time focusing, and I am about half as productive as normal when I can see things out of place, or know that something is messy. 

And this is nuts considering I was once the girl who couldn’t see her bedroom floor because there was a layer of clothing covering the tile. I would dig through my “faux” carpet to find outfits and things I had lost. 

But I have started to become a bit anal when it comes to things being clean. Like right now, I have the dishes and such still out from making myself some coffee, and I keep looking over at it. I know in the back of my head that our bed isn’t made and that there are dirty clothes sitting at the bottom of my closet (I’m waiting on my new laundry basket to come in the mail). 

I have discovered that my brain just functions SO MUCH better when things are neat and tidy around me. 

It’s like writing my morning pages. I pull all of the gunk out of my head and put it onto the paper. And something about this process tidies up my mind, which then prepares me to stay focused and on task during the day. 

I also have noticed that if I’m stressed or having an uncomfortable conversation I start tidying up. It’s like a nervous, soothing tick I’ve developed. 

But it’s crazy to me, because I used to be the most unorganized, cluttered person. 

By no means am I at the level of going on the show "Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners”, but this has just been a big flip flop on my end. And I know OCD is not a laughing/joking matter, I would never dream of diminishing what those with OCD go through. 

I guess part of me is starting to feel like my mother, which is always a weird thing to notice. 

And I’m not mad about any of this.

No, quite the contrary. Becoming a tidy, organized person has revolutionized how I think, how productive I am — focused, creative, etc. I’m actually quite thankful that I have made this small habit change because it has helped me immensely with how much I am able to accomplish in a day’s time. 

This fits into my daily/weekly routine a few different ways. Firstly, I have found that I like taking 15-20 minutes every morning to do a quick tidy, which includes making the bed, putting away any clothes, and cleaning up anything in the kitchen that I missed from the night before. I also really enjoy a weekly deeper clean where I vacuum, dust and wipe things down. 

How do you tidy?