My Strategies for Something Between Surviving and Thriving in January

The word I was looking for was apparently the word Striving!

I searched google for “what is between surviving and thriving“, apparently the answer is striving.

That’s what I am going right now, striving.

I think that I am like a lot of people

January is a tough month for me, always, especially the first part of it. It is hard to adjust to the cold dark days after the excitement and bright lights of the holidays.

I also think that in general it takes some adjustment to remember the kinds of activities you do to fill your days when the seasons change. With Yule, Saturnalia, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the New Year occurring at the very beginning of winter, one hardly has time to remember who they are in winter before we are thrust into it after the holidays.

Here are some of the things that I am going right now to adjust to Winter life:

1. I have been trying to get outside every day. I usually take a walk outside. Also I have been trying to take notice the sunrise if possible every morning.
2. I make a little mental checklist that I try to mentally tick off every day. Here are the things on my list: read (30) minutes a day, practice the guitar for at least (10) minutes, read with the boys so that they can cross off a box on their library winter reading challenge logs, and sit down for a few minutes and write if possible.
3. Make time for a little family activity around dinner time if possible. We don’t get to this every day, but if we do, it adds to our day. Sometimes we play a little board game and sometimes we watch an episode of a show together. We also like playing some Mario Cart.
4. I am partial to getting super cozy with my food choices. I like make and eat soups. Lately, I have been persuading Mr. Katie to make us ice cream sundaes.
5. I can emphasize enough how much I lean on record keeping to give myself little dopamine boasts. I like to record the progress that I am making during my daily reading time in the Goodreads app on my phone. I also sometimes listen to audiobooks when I am walking and I make sure to record that reading progress as well in my Goodreads app.
6. I don’t keep track of my writing or guitar playing goals on paper but I mentally give myself credit for doing those things. On days when I am needing structure, I tend to think of my life in a way that is similar to Hugh Grant’s character in the movie About a Boy where he explains how to breaks his life into 30 minute units. I break my day into units and mentally give myself extra points for completing specific units that align with my goals.
7. It seems like engaging in life helps. Before looking at pictures on my phone, I wrongly thought that maybe not that much had happened in life since the New Year began. After looking at my pictures, I realized that actually we have done many activities in 2025 so far. We have been swimming at the YMCA a few times, the boys have read books to dogs at the library, we have been working on scout activities, and we have been to Longwood Gardens to see the Christmas decorations. Perhaps you will hear about some of these adventures in the future! Enjoy your day!