How’s Dead Week treating you? If you feel those post-holiday blues creeping in, cheer up because I’ve got some ideas for small things you can do to banish them and get back to normal life.
I’m not sure if anyone actually calls this week between Christmas and the New Year “Dead Week,” but if the shoe fits, we might as well all collectively wear it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t even know what day it is today. Some of us love this week of no rules and no concept of time and think too much of a good thing is a good thing when it comes to watching Netflix (or whatever streaming service carries the show you’re currently obsessed with). Others of us struggle with the end of the holiday season and a week of no rules worsens the post-holiday blues. If you find yourself in the latter camp, this post is for you.
I’ve never really done well having a ton of unstructured time on my hands, with the notable exception being the August after I took my Bar exam. It happened to coincide with the Summer Olympics and man could I have competed in Olympic Olympics watching that year. I even watched the archery and was invested in the outcome. Anyway, I digress. Because I don’t do super well with a ton of free time, I often find Dead Week to be tough. This is especially true if I haven’t been able to spend the holiday with all of my loved ones. It’s easy for the post-holiday blues to set in and have me thinking about woulda shoulda coulda.
To avoid a week of depression accompanied by my favorite pastime, catastrophizing, I have figured out what works for me to avoid the post-holiday blues (psst, I’ll give you a hint – 8 hours a day of Netflix isn’t on this list). If you’re struggling to get back into your groove after the holidays, one or more of these easy tips might just work for you too. Let’s beat the post-holiday blues, shall we? I mean, there aren’t even Olympics to watch, so we might as well.
How to Beat the Post-Holiday Blues
Routine
Hands down the most impactful thing that keeps my post-holiday blues away is getting back into a routine. I absolutely thrive on a routine, and I have since the beginning of time. It’s a trait I have passed on to my kids too. They love a routine and it’s not pretty when they don’t have their routine to fall back on. That means a routine is not only necessary for us to stem the tide of the post-holiday blues, but also to keep our whole house sane.
Even though I fully endorse a routine during Dead Week, it doesn’t have to be your typical, real-life routine. A post-holiday routine can look like sleeping in and watching more TV than usual and having fun activities planned. Just be sure to have certain guideposts that happen around the same time every day to keep you honest.
Exercise
Relax, no one is asking you to run a marathon during Dead Week. Heck, no one’s even asking you to hit the gym. My advice to beat the post-holiday blues is just to find ways to move your body. Take a family walk or bike ride, hit the indoor pool, or do some family yoga. My kids love to do yoga poses that have animal names! Whatever you can do to get your body moving, even if it’s more sloth than cheetah, is perfect.
Get outside
Another thing you can do to combat the post-holiday blues can be accomplished while you’re moving your body if you prefer. Get outside! Even if it’s cold where you live, bundle up and take a walk, throw a football, or take down your Christmas decorations. It’s genuinely amazing how helpful just spending a few minutes outside can be to regulate your mind and your body. Breathe in that fresh air, get a little Vitamin D – you can’t help but feel a little happier!
Meals
Raise your hand if you haven’t seen a vegetable in a while. My hand is raised high, honey. And boy do I feel it. I neeeed vegetables in my life again. I know that I will feel so much better and be so much better equipped to kick those post-holiday blues to the curb when I’m fueling my body with actual nutrition and not just pure sugar.
Now, don’t think that I’m suggesting that you prepare gourmet meals this week. No, no, no. You can make nutritious meals very simply and easily. This is exactly the type of week that I fully embrace my favorite no-recipe dinners. We’ve got burgers and quesadillas and tortellini ahead of us this week. They will fill our bodies will good stuff with minimal effort, especially if I add a bagged salad on the side. No fuss, nutritious, delicious meals are exactly what the doctor ordered during Dead Week.
Relax
Just because I think you need more than relaxation to beat the post-holiday blues doesn’t mean you can’t relax at all. Please, do! Especially if you are a mom to young children, you probably haven’t relaxed much in the whole month of December (or maybe since before your first child was born?). Now is the time to make sure you get some relaxation in. This can be a Netflix session or two, a hot bath, your skincare routine, a date with your partner – I fully endorse whatever helps you relax. Legal things, of course.
Hobby
If you find yourself with extra time on your hands and you’re trying to battle the post-holiday blues, might I suggest a hobby session or two this week? I find that when I can focus on my hobbies for just a little bit of time, it’s like my brain shaking off the cobwebs. We all need to shake off the cobwebs a bit after the holidays, so please pick up a hobby or two this week. I’m starting on next year’s cross-stitch ornaments already. If you don’t actively have a hobby you’re spending time on, now is a great time to start. There are plenty of low-effort hobbies that don’t require a huge investment of money or time. Pick one and start your hobby journey!
Contact
Don’t cut off contact with the outside world this week. You’ve just had a month of being extra busy and extra social. A surefire way to feel the post-holiday blues is to go cold turkey on contact with other people who don’t live in your house. Don’t do that to yourself.
You might feel weird asking people to get together between Christmas and the New Year because you’re afraid they are all socialized-out. Don’t! You need personal contact and so do they. Plan a playdate, a girls night, a brunch, an anti-holiday party, whatever sounds like fun to you.
Something to look forward to
Dead Week is a great time to plan something to look forward to. You can go big and plan your summer vacation or keep it small and plan a date night with your partner. I’ve found it so helpful to combat the post-holiday blues and every other type of blues to have something on the calendar that I can circle. It creates forward momentum and lets you hang onto that festive, celebratory vibe.
We are still planning my husband’s 40th birthday trip. We’re at the excursions and things to do stage of planning, so it’s a lot of Googling and reading reviews. I happen to love this step of trip planning, so I’m in heaven and really getting excited for our little three-night getaway. Post-holiday blues? What post-holiday blues?
Take the pressure off
Life doesn’t have to be exciting every day. It would be exhausting to feel that Christmas magic all year round, so don’t lie to yourself and tell yourself that life would be better if you had a special day every day. With this fact front of mind, find a mirror and give yourself a talking to. Tell yourself that you don’t have to have a special day every day. Normal days are great.
If you’re not expecting every day to be a special day, it won’t feel “wrong” when your days aren’t special. It’ll just feel normal, and normal is good.
New Year’s Resolution
I love a New Year’s Resolution! Not only does my next year self thank me for taking the time to reflect on how I can make life better, it’s really a wonderful way to keep myself looking ahead rather than behind. Take this time to set a New Year’s Resolution that lasts and make a plan for how to can achieve it. I’m still deciding what my New Year’s Resolution will be for 2025, so this task is definitely on my list for Dead Week.
Other posts
Need some fun posts to read this week to beat the post-holiday blues? I’ve got lots to choose from, but start by picking from one of these:
I hope these tips help you all conquer the post-holiday blues. What’s helping you the most this Dead Week? Share your tips below or over on Instagram @sarainseason.
[Note: None of this content is sponsored. The links above may be general affiliate links, which earn me a small commission so I can keep making great content for you!]