12 tips to help workers beat the autumn and winter blues

Wellbeing

When winter begins, some employees may experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a form of depression that tends to surface during times of less daylight.

This can significantly impact productivity and morale. Managers and Human Resources therefore need to play a proactive role in addressing these mental health challenges in order to maintain a productive and, more importantly, happy workforce. But how best to achieve this?

Companies are increasingly recognizing the importance of mental health in the workplace. They are adapting policies to better support employees during the transition from warmer, sunnier weather to darker times of year because this seasonal change can have such an effect on productivity, says Julian Goldie, a professional business strategy consultant.

12 tips to help workers beat the autumn and winter blues

Sad workers tend to perform badly, and their malaise tends to spread When winter comes and the days shorten and sunlight is less frequent, this issue becomes more severe. There are, however, numerous things HR and managers can do to counter this seasonal challenge, and help workers to thrive in autumn and winter.

Here are Julian’s 12 tips for workers beating the autumn and winter blues:

  1. Lighten up: Let as much sunlight into the workplace as possible in winter. Encourage remote workers to do their job in a naturally lit place if possible.
  2. Get flexible: Allow staff to work remotely or have flexible hours so they can get as much daylight as possible and let them enjoy …
  3. The great outdoors: Encourage staff to walk outside at lunch time. If it’s raining, give them an umbrella that puts a smile on their face! 
  4. Promote wellness: Generate a bright, positive workplace culture that spreads mental health awareness among the workforce.  
  5. Eat wellbeing: Encourage worker dietary changes that will enable wellness from the inside. Diet (and thus gut-health) is absolutely crucial to mood.  
  6. Talk about S.A.D.! … so you don’t feel sad: Publish content about S.A.D. anywhere employees may pick up on the issue. 
  7. Ask a colleague who has experience of S.A.D.: Privately ask an employee who has suffered from S.A.D. if they’re comfortable speaking about it openly to other workers. 
  8. Offer time out for medical appointments: Allow staff time off for appointments with counsellors and/or therapists who can help them with S.A.D. 
  9. Mental Health First Aid at Work: Put Mental Health First Aid to work in the workplace so staff can recognise the signs of S.A.D. and know how to combat it.
  10. Rise and shine: Introduce morning wellness programmes that help workers get off to a good start as they go about their business.
  11. Create a Digital Winter Survival Kit: posting bright, positive digital content on social and on daily messaging can be great for people’s morale. Use humour. People love to laugh. Laughter lifts people’s spirits like nothing else!
  12. Use technology: If your workplace budget allows, use artificial light boxes and sun lamps that mimic natural sunlight that will keep UV intake up.  

Sunny Side Up

If you can put some of these anti-S.A.D. tips to work when Daylight Saving Time ends in autumn – brilliant. If you can use all of them – even better. They will enable you to reap the benefits of good autumnal worker morale, which means better staff productivity that can benefit your business. 

More importantly, it’s great to help others deal with depression however it’s caused. Beating winter S.A.D. at work will lead to a better feeling around the workplace, and more cooperative and efficient staff. It’s incredibly important to put these anti-S.A.D. hacks to work ASAP. 

Julian Goldie, the owner of Goldie Agency, has over six years of experience in SEO. He has a YouTube channel with over 75,000 subscribers and has taught over 60,000 students on Udemy. He leads a team of more than 70 people and is the author of the best-selling book ‘Link Building Mastery’.