10 Ways to Beat the Post-Holiday Blues

When that last drop of New Year’s Eve champagne is gone and the Christmas ornaments are packed away, many people enter a state of post-holiday blues. The anticipation and planning that begins with Halloween ends when you open your eyes on the second day of January. It’s winter; the parties are over and it’s back to the daily grind. But you can beat the post-holiday blues.

10 Ways to Beat the Post-Holiday Blues

1. Rescue an Animal

Visit your local animal shelter. Give some time and attention to an animal without a home. If you are able, adopt a pet and add some new life to your home. If you can’t adopt one, ask if you can donate your time to the shelter. You’ll be helping animals, but they’ll enrich your life as well.

How Pets Raise Spirits and Improve Health

2. Declutter

Look around your home — I mean really look around. Are the walls closing in on you? Could you use some breathing room? A cluttered home can make you feel overwhelmed and unable to move forward in your thinking and your activities. It’s harder to clean, too, adding to the chores you have to do, or the chores that never get done. It’s a vicious cycle that can be broken. Pick out a few items each day and ask yourself — do I need this…does it serve a purpose…would I really miss it if it were gone…can it be useful to someone else? Most people feel better and perform better in an uncluttered environment.

Simple Ways to Declutter Your Life

3. Volunteer

There’s a lot of hype about volunteering during the holidays, but those needs don’t go away in January. People are still hungry, ill, homeless, and in need of assistance. If you’ve got time on your hands, and it’s making you blue, helping someone else can lift you out of the doldrums.

4. Give

If you’re busy with earning a living and caring for family, volunteering time isn’t always practical. Perhaps you can afford a monetary gift to your favorite worthy charity. Choosing a local charity makes it more personal. If you can’t afford to give money, how about donating items from your home that you no longer use or want? You get decluttered and someone else gets something they need. That’s a win/win.

5. Perform an Act of Kindness

Smile at a stranger. Open a door for someone else. Thank someone for the work they do. Let another driver into the line of traffic. Give someone a ride. Run an errand for someone who is sick. Small kindnesses take little time or effort but can make a big difference in someone else’s day. Perhaps you’ll even inspire others to pay it forward.

How Small Acts of Kindness Can Heal and Inspire

Next: 5 More Fun Tips!

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Connie O.

8:01AM PDT on Mar 18, 2013

I enjoy volunteering and giving year round...but especially in January when things start to slow down. I also try to do something different, whether take up a new hobby or visit a local place I have not been to.