How to Navigate the End-of-Winter Slump

There’s a particular kind of tiredness that seems to arrive around now.

Not the sharp exhaustion of doing too much. Not the heaviness of something being wrong. Just a quieter dip — where motivation feels lower, the days blur together slightly, and everything takes a little more effort than it should.

If you’ve been feeling lower than usual, there’s a reason.

This point in winter carries a kind of cumulative weight. We’ve had months of reduced light. Weeks of grey skies. More time indoors. Fewer sensory changes in the environment. Even if life is steady, your system has been working a little harder in the background.

January can feel purposeful. There’s structure. Momentum. Even the cold feels crisp.

But late winter is different. The novelty has worn off. Spring isn’t here yet. The light is slowly shifting — but not enough to fully energise us. We’re in between seasons, and in-between spaces often feel draining.

It’s the end-of-winter slump.

It’s not dramatic. It’s not a failure of willpower. It’s simply your body and mind responding to months of lower light and limited stimulation.

Understanding that changes everything.

Because if this dip is seasonal, it doesn’t need to be solved. It needs to be navigated.

So how do we move through it?

Not with bold resolutions or sudden reinvention. Late winter rarely responds well to force.

Instead, it helps to think in terms of support and atmosphere.

Light becomes more important than we realise. Creating small pools of warmth indoors can steady the nervous system. A natural candle or tealight lit before dusk. A softer lamp rather than bright overhead light. These aren’t dramatic gestures — but they gently counterbalance the grey.

Scent can also shift how a space feels. When we’re indoors more often, the atmosphere of a room begins to affect us quietly. Lighting a natural candle with a soothing scent or taking a moment to energetically cleanse your space can mark a subtle reset in your day. Not to change everything — just to lift and lighten the mood. 

Movement helps too — but gently. A short walk in daylight, even when it’s cold. Standing outside for five minutes just to feel the air. These small sensory shifts remind the body that the season is moving, even if slowly.

And perhaps most importantly: easing expectations.

This is rarely the season for peak productivity. It’s a time for maintaining, tending, holding steady. When we stop expecting spring energy before it arrives, the slump feels less like a personal shortcoming and more like a natural pause.

There’s comfort in recognising that this dip is temporary. 

The light is already changing, even if you can’t feel it fully yet. The mornings are getting brighter. The ground is quietly preparing.

Follow nature; there’s no need to rush yourself forward.

If your energy feels lower than usual, you’re not behind. You’re simply at the low point of a cycle — and cycles move.

For now, warmth, small resets, and gentler expectations are enough.

Spring doesn’t need your effort to arrive.

It will come.

AUTHOR: LEANNA DOOLIN

Co – Founder of holistic skincare brand, Pure Thoughts and advocate for women finding pause in their day to breathe deeply, give thanks and reconnect to what matters. Loves early mornings, dogs and books that you can’t put down.