Ah, the blues. A wonderful music genre… and also one of the most universal emotional phenomenons. Ever felt kind of off? Just not your usual self, maybe a little sad, maybe a little more irritable? You’re probably more anxious, thinking about things that are out of your control, or you have trouble being fully present and appreciating the current moment. Well, then, you’ve experienced the blues.

I think January is a particularly popular time for the blues to hit for a variety of reasons. It’s cold and quite dark, the excitement of the holidays is officially behind us, and for those of us who have been on break, it’s a jolting reboot of sometimes stressful routines.

However, I refuse to stand powerless in the face of the blues, no matter how easy it would be to just curl up under a blanket and blast sad music. So I’ve come up with some tips that actually really help me and I hope will be helpful for you. Of course we are all different, so feel free to customize these to best suit your own personality, or include some others. You know best what helps you get out of a funk.

Get Busy

This one works well if the reason for your blues is not overwhelm or excessive stress from work or school. If your ennui seemingly has no reason, it really does help to be productive. Act as you want to be.

By filling your planner with to-do tasks and then steadily crossing them off, you will feel more productive and be more motivated to make bigger plans and get even more accomplished. And you can’t really feel blah when you’re being a badass boss. 😉

Distract Yourself

This isn’t too long-term of a fix, but trust me, it can really make a world of difference. This could be anything from watching some Netflix (hopefully something that makes you laugh) to getting lost in a good book to cooking and baking your booty off. Sometimes watching some funny Youtube videos (I love Buzzfeed) is also the perfect fix.

Just anything that won’t leave your mind racing or ruminating on all the negative things that have happened or could happen in your life.

Eat Healthfully

When you’re feeling blue, you want to make sure you’re treating your body respectfully and kindly and tuning in as much as you can to what it needs. Eating super heavy, greasy foods might seem like a good way to comfort your spirits, but it will likely only make you feel worse and more lethargic.

Try to bump up your veggie consumption, get some more greens, enjoy some fruit and nuts, and generally eat in a way that you know will make your bod happy. It really does make a difference in your mental state! Plus, taking care of yourself gives you a little dopamine boost and a sense of accomplishment that can also lift your spirits.

Exercise

Even if it’s the last thing you want to do, sometimes exercise really does help. Sometimes what you need is an intense heart-pumping session to flood your body with endorphins, and sometimes you need a revitalizing yoga session to really calm and center your mind. If you want to combine this with the distraction, maybe take a great podcast with you and go for a walk. You do you, boo!

Have a Blues-Busting Playlist

Music really does have a magical ability to totally transform your mood. I adore Spotify and listen to it quite often, and whenever I come across a song that I KNOW would bust my bad mood, I add it to my playlist called “getting through the blues.” I don’t have too many on there yet, but feel free to throw some recommendations at me! Oh, and you can’t be sad when listening to showtunes either!

Put Some Effort In

I know it’s super easy to throw on some sweatpants, a giant shirt, and go out into the world because you just don’t care, but it feels SO much better to put a bit of effort in when you’re feeling low. I personally find that when I don’t feel put-together, I feel even worse, but when I make sure that my outfit, hair, and makeup are all on-point, it makes the day so much better, even if I’m super low-energy or not at my happiest. Act the way you want to feel! 🙂

Sleep

Ah, sleep. We all love it, but few of us actually get even close to enough. After I got my Fitbit and with one of my intentions for the year being aiming for 8 hours, I’ve been very cognizant of my sleeping schedule. Now, I am absolutely not perfect, and I suspect this had a huge effect on my mood. I mentioned here that I’ve been having trouble with my occasional super early wake-up times because I just can’t fall asleep early enough the night before. So that is still very much a work in progress. But last night, I got almost 9 hours, and I seriously feel worlds better.

Get Outside (or Vitamin Up)

I know how hard it is to go outside when it’s so dang cold, but I really encourage you to bundle up and get out there, even if for a short time. When the sun is shining and the birds are chirping, it really can do wonders for your mood. Of course, part of that is that we all need (and often don’t get enough) Vitamin D. That’s why it’s so much more common to feel blah and low in the winter than in the summer; it’s harder to get that Vitamin D when we’re all bundled up and aren’t outside for extended periods of time.

I highly recommend getting a Vitamin D supplement, especially on those days that it’s actually unthinkable to even step foot outdoors. Trust me, we’ve had a few of those days. I just ordered myself these, and I’ll definitely report back on how I feel after taking them for a few weeks!

Treat Yourself

Love this tip because who doesn’t like giving themselves some TLC? This one is so easy to neglect, and I used to be guilty of that, but one of the biggest things I learned in 2017 is that giving yourself some extra love is NEVER a bad idea.

If you can swing it, splurge a bit. Get yourself those shoes you’ve been eyeing for months, go for a mani/pedi or a massage, get your hair blown out, or just get yourself something that makes you happy. I recently bought myself Wolf, and he gave me an instant boost of happiness 🙂

Some of my other fave TLC methods: buying good coffee, putting on a face or hair mask, spending time doing something I love like practicing guitar or working on the blog.

Sometimes this means putting some “important” tasks on the back-burner, but I would argue that investing in YOU is the number one priority and will result in your being much more productive and better able to invest in others.

Spend Time with People You Love

Maybe it’s my extraverted nature, but my entire mood just does a 180 when I spend time with my people. You know the people who you can be completely yourself around, who love you unconditionally, and just make you feel GOOD? Sometimes you might think you just want to be alone and wallow, but surrounding yourself with the right people can often be the best possible thing for your mood.

You don’t need to plan anything extravagant; even just sitting together in silence sometimes does the trick.

Plan Something Exciting

Maybe it’s the planner in me, but I get a RUSH from planning. Like give me a planner and a pen, and I am SET. But here I’m talking about potentially more long-term planning, like planning for a getaway trip or a full-blown vacation if you can swing it.

Most recently, I’ve been thinking about where I want to go in May as an end-of-year treat, and it’s been making me super excited. Something to look forward to definitely helps beat the blues!

Or maybe there’s something you’ve been wanting to do or get better at this year. Make a solid plan for how you’re going to tackle that goal, and you’ll definitely feel a difference in your mood.

Practice Gratitude

This is perhaps the number one way to kick the blues, though it’s sometimes difficult to force yourself to do it when all you want to do is roll around on your floor in a blanket (just me?)

You guys know I’m a huge fan of journaling, but it often helps to just sit and think about all the many things you have to be grateful for. Your friends, your family, your SO, the amazing food you had recently, the delicious coffee you savored in the morning. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for; it just sometimes takes a little bit of effort to really soak it all up.

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Those are all my tips, and honestly, I already feel so much better after writing all these out because I’m excited to do a few of them. The blues are totally normal and nothing to beat yourself up over, but it always helps to have an arsenal of tools to help yourself beat the funk.

Hope these helped, and I’m sending you all the love and magic and good vibes if you’re feeling the blues lately! <3

 

What are you go-to ways to get yourself out of a funk?

Linking up with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud