What you can do as a Warwick student to beat the January blues: A guide

It is a country wide phenomena: The January blues. It has to be said, January can be a really long and hard month, especially for students living in cold and damp uni houses when your parents aren’t around to cook roast dinners and crank the heating up. But, despite the cold January can still be a month of fun and growth and here are five reminders not to lose hope.

The days start getting longer again

Coming home from lectures at four o’clock and it’s already dark has to be one of the worst things about the winter. But, in January the days start to get longer again as the sun sets later. After the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, on 21st December, the days start to get longer again and spring gets ready to bloom.

No effort? No worries

As lots of people find this month long, cold and hard it’s important to remember that not everyone abides by ”new year new me” and hitting the gym and setting unachievable goals for the year ahead. It’s ok to be a bit slower in these dark evenings and hunker down under a blanket with a hot drink. Why not try and make a fancy hot chocolate or a new meal from scratch this week instead of joining a gym, changing everything about your lifestyle and getting seriously into whatever ”green juice” is.

Get outside

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An oldie but a goodie. It is true what the experts say, getting out of your uni box room and breathing fresh air can really help boost your mood and clear your head. Whether that be walking for 20 minutes somewhere instead of driving, going on a run or maybe just taking a lap round the block before cracking on with work again, it’s important not to neglect your body and get moving even when it is minus three degrees outside.

Sleep

Something that people seem to assume uni students get a lot of, but actually when assignments are piling up and job applications are due, sleep is something all too frequently neglected. It’s important to try and stick to a proper routine and try and get those eight hours.

See your friends

It’s cold and no longer Christmas so people don’t feel like going outside and we get it, but that is going to do nothing for your mood. Ditch your pyjamas and TV and remember your friends exist, even if you do spend the whole time complaining about how cold it is.