Work With Seasons

As one month gives way to the next, the seasons remind us that change is constant. This week is an invitation to slow down, notice what’s shifting inside you, and give yourself space to grow with it.

Today’s Quick Overview:

 🔬Science Spotlight: How seasonal rhythms still shape our sleep, mood, and energy...
🛠️ Tool of The Week: Use WOOP to turn goals into action with a clear plan…
📰 Mental Health News: Dabble in hobbies; use apps without letting them run you…
🙏 Daily Practice: Give yourself time to integrate change, not just rush through it…

Let's see what you're planting and what you're ready to harvest:

What seeds are you planting this Monday? Maybe intention, showing up even when it's hard, or believing this week can be different. And what are you harvesting from last week? Perhaps the lesson that you're more resilient than you thought, the rest you finally allowed yourself, or the courage you built one small decision at a time.

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That exhaustion is real. Spending eight hours or more monitoring your words, tone, and facial expressions is heavy emotional labor. There’s a difference between professional boundaries (adapting to the room) and self-suppression (erasing yourself to belong).

Masks can be useful, especially in new roles or high-stakes settings, but when the gap between “work you” and “real you” gets too wide, the workday starts to feel like a performance instead of a life.

Many people learned early that safety meant performing: don’t show uncertainty, don’t show emotion, don’t be “too much.” Over time, maintaining that split becomes unsustainable. You start dreading not the tasks, but the pretending. Relationships stay shallow because people only meet the mask. And you lose contact with your own voice.

One Small Step: Identify one small, low-risk way to bring more of your authentic self to work this week. Maybe it's sharing a genuine opinion in a meeting, admitting when you don't know something, or letting your natural sense of humor show in an appropriate moment.

Try This:

The goal isn't perfection or complete transparency in every situation, but closing the gap between who you are and who you're pretending to be at work. You can be professional and authentic at the same time; these aren't opposites, and you don't have to choose between effectiveness and being yourself.

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The WOOP Method

What it is: A four-step mental strategy that turns wishes into reality by walking through Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan. Instead of just positive thinking, you pair your dreams with a realistic look at what might get in your way, then create a specific game plan for when obstacles show up.

How to practice it: Take 5-10 minutes and work through each step in order.

Why it works: Your brain needs more than motivation. It needs a bridge between wanting and doing. WOOP creates that bridge by linking your future goals to your current reality. When you mentally contrast what you want with what might stop you, your brain energizes and commits more deeply.

When to use it: Sunday evening when planning your week. Before starting any new habit or project. When you keep setting the same goal but never follow through. Whenever you notice yourself stuck in either pure fantasy or pure negativity.

Pro tip: Keep your obstacle internal, something within your control, like "getting distracted by my phone" rather than external, like "bad weather." Being honest about what really stops you is what makes this technique effective.

Despite Electric Lights and Indoor Living, Your Brain Still Tracks Seasonal Changes

Research finding: Researchers analyzed wearable sleep data from thousands of medical residents and found clear seasonal patterns in sleep and circadian timing, even in shift workers whose schedules regularly collide with day–night cycles.

The research revealed that humans don't have a single circadian clock but two: one tracking dawn and another tracking dusk, which communicate with each other to adjust to seasonal light patterns.

Genetic analysis showed that people with variations in a specific seasonal timing gene had more disrupted circadian-sleep alignment when doing shift work, suggesting individual differences in seasonal sensitivity.

Why it matters: Day length still shapes mood, energy, and sleep quality more than we think. The findings help explain why winter can feel heavier, why irregular schedules hit some folks harder, and why “just push through” rarely works.

Try it today: Pay attention to how your energy and mood naturally shift with the seasons, especially as daylight hours change. Instead of fighting these patterns, consider working with them. Perhaps scheduling more social activities during shorter days or allowing for slightly different sleep patterns in winter versus summer.

If you're sensitive to seasonal changes, prioritize morning light exposure during darker months and consider that your struggles with seasonal mood shifts aren't personal failings but biological responses that some people experience more intensely than others due to genetic differences.

I can give myself time to adjust internally, even when external changes happen quickly. Transformation isn't about speed, it's about integration.

Think of one way you've adapted to a shift in your life, not just by accepting new circumstances but by becoming someone who can hold them. That internal work counts.

It's okay to still be processing changes that happened weeks or months ago. Your inner timeline doesn't have to match the calendar.

Identify one recent change in your life, big or small. Ask yourself: "Have I actually made peace with this internally, or am I just going through the motions?" Notice what comes up without judgment.

Evening Reset: Notice, Write, Settle

Picture a hermit crab finding a new shell. The shell itself changes in an instant, but the crab must carefully explore it, adjust its body, and learn to move differently before it truly fits. Your transitions deserve the same patient exploration: the outer shift is quick, but the inner settling takes its own time.

Spend three minutes writing: What change am I still trying to absorb emotionally, and what would help me actually integrate it rather than just survive it?

Close your notebook and ask yourself: Where am I resisting a transition by clinging to who I used to be? What part of me is ready to shift if I let it? What would acceptance, and not just tolerance, actually feel like?

"Change is situational. Transition, on the other hand, is psychological. It is not those events, but rather the inner reorientation or self-redefinition that you have to go through in order to incorporate any of those changes into your life. Without transition, a change is just a rearrangement of the furniture. Unless transition happens, the change won't work, because it doesn't take." — William Bridges

You're not behind, you're adjusting at exactly the pace you require.

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Coming Tuesday: What to say when your family makes jokes about your sensitive topics, and how to stop "teasing" that consistently makes you feel bad without being labeled too sensitive.

Researched and edited by Natasha. Designed with love by Kaye.

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*The Daily Wellness shares educational content only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice and diagnosis. Please consult a licensed provider for personalized care.