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Last week I wrote about trying to find ways to manage time and work while recovering from health problems. That's definitely an example of situational time management. With any luck, for most of us health problems are a temporary situation that we have to work through like so many other changing situations in our work lives.

This past week at Writer Unboxed, Lydia Sharp described another situation to work through, one that occurs with more frequency, writing with seasonal affective disorder. There are times of the year--situations--when she is able to work better than at others. For her, the year is broken into quarters. She has a quarter when she is most likely to be able to generate new work and a quarter when it's best to revise.

If you read Sharp's post and the comments that follow it, you'll see that she and some others manage their writing time by recognizing that their situation will change over the course of the year and planning what they'll do during the different seasonal situations. One writer even determines whether she'll work on fiction or nonfiction by time of year.

Notice, also, the impact of the "write-every-day" and "Butt in Chair" philosophies on people who are trying to manage writing time while dealing with this type of situation. Not only are they not helpful, they often lead writers who just can't work that way to feel guilty.

I've been sharing with a few of you on Twitter about moods during the gloomy days and winter months and how I've been wanting to try a light therapy box. I asked for your thoughts and my feed exploded with positive feedback from those that have tried light therapy to help boost moods and take away other symptoms seasonal moodiness, without medication.

I've never been diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I'm certainly not advocating making medical decisions such as this for those that aren't sure if they have the disorder or not. Just putting that out there. I'm not a doctor or a therapist! I have, however, suffered from diagnosed anxiety disorders for years, as well as depression in my late teens and early twenties. I know the signs and symptoms of a problem and I prefer to treat without medication, if possible.

I've been very blessed that the depression has, for the most part, stayed away for several years, but the anxiety is always around. I've learned tips and tricks to quell it (have a manageable to-do list each day, only listing a few chores every day, giving myself time to sit, etc.), but in the winter it comes back in full force. I'm tired ALL the time and even though I'm a mom of a toddler and I get up early, I do get plenty of rest. 7-8 hours should be plenty for me and it's not. I get overwhelmed very easily and that leads to meltdowns.

I'm trying out this box:

It’s that time of year again, when the German sun sets at 4 p.m. in a blanket of gray, and even a candlelight lunch doesn’t seem like a ridiculous idea.

In this season I always think of a poem by my friend Etta, and today she’s agreed to share it with us. Thanks so much, Etta.

MOON SHINE

I.

There is never enough light in winter.

Even in the room you chose

for its double window,

the sun barely gives enough

to read by.

*

I imagine you at your desk

scrambling to catch

what morning light there is.

II.

You have made me think about winter.

how the sun is closer to us

but its light is less:

an inverse, illogical proportion

that my science can explain but not excuse.

A tilting on the axis,

a simple change of wavelength,

hardly seems enough to cause

a melancholy season.

*

Winter’s saving grace

is cloudless night,

each star a perfect prick

in blue; midnight’s moonlight

compensates for gray noon,

bleeding cold life

through your thick curtains.

*

Etta Jensen-Barnes

Etta and I have been friends since first semester of our freshman year, when we took poetry with the late, great Robert Kirkpatrick. After that class, I became an English major and never looked back.

With so little light, I’m grateful to have the tree up and the advent wreath to light each day. Did you know German tree stands hold no water? We learned that this week. It’s traditional to get your tree on December 24th and to keep it up until January 6. Trees are cut much closer to the time of sale, so they don’t really need watering during that short period, I guess. We brought our American tree stand, so we’re watering ours anyway. Some habits die hard.

I love this idea for a children’s Christmas tree over at elsiemarley, and also check out her list of Christmas activities to do with the kids. I especially like this woven ornament idea from the crafty crow.

Also, randomly:

An editorial about amazon’s sneaky new promotion. But hey, hardcover book sales  in stores are up!

Also, I’m making progress on the sleeves for this. Maybe, maybe it’ll be done in time for Christmas. But I’m not above wrapping it up in pieces. Watch me.

Also making progress on my novel and trying to get an old nonfiction writing project restarted. Back to work.

4 Comments on Seasonally Affected, last added: 1/9/2012

A weekly column from children’s author Simon Rose

Many people are adversely affected each year by the winter blues, and writers are no exception. There are many ways to combat SAD, including antidepressants and other medications, but bright artificial light treatments are common as a means to give the body more exposure to the light that is lacking once winter approaches. For SAD sufferers, shorter days and long nights can initiate depression, excessive fatigue and other issues. Not simply the ‘winter blues’, seasonal affective disorder is recognized as a form of depression, which can have serious consequences.

However, you don’t have to mourn the passing of summer by looking ahead with a sense of impending doom and there are many ways to cope with feelings of lethargy and mood shifts in fall and winter.

Make your home or writing workplace brighter by opening blinds, perhaps even adding extra windows and trim tree branches or bushes close to the house that block sunlight.

If a trip to warmer latitudes isn’t in your budget, get outside as much as you can, taking advantage of the sunshine even on cold winter days. Regular physical exercise can also help with stress relief and prevent the onset of SAD. Feeling more fit makes you feel better about yourself overall and generally improves your mood.

Giving in to those winter blues can also be stressful and lead to overeating, overindulgence in alcohol or other unhealthy pursuits, so you need to take care of your body, watch your diet and get enough sleep.

Make time to relax and get away from your writing once in a while, especially if you work at home. And even if you do suffer from cabin fever, make sure you invite people into that cabin for a tea or coffee on occasion during the winter or at least go to visit theirs. Writing is a solitary and often lonely profession and staying connected with your friends and acquaintances, and not just on-line, is vital if you are to get through the winter.

SAD may be a fact of life for many people out there, but it doesn’t have to be a sad part of your life during the darker winter months, so keep writing and get that book finished. After all, there may be someone in a sunnier place beating you to it.

A weekly column from children’s author Simon Rose

There are undoubtedly many writers who may suffer from SAD and who are as a result less motivated to write in the winter months. And yet, when we think of our ancestors who had no access to artificial light to illuminate the gloom of winter, they still managed to write and their work is no less impressive.

Early Man may have created his cave paintings in the daytime when ferocious wild beasts were less likely to be around. Yet the caves themselves would certainly have been very dark and the pictures painted by the light of a flaming torch.

Fast forward to the classical world of Greece and Rome and the great works of Plato, Aristotle, Virgil and so many others may have been composed at night, with very little illumination.

Monks in the Middle Ages would also have worked all year round and such works as Beowulf or the Anglo Saxon chronicle would never have been written if everyone in the scriptorium had SAD.

But did Shakespeare only write in the spring and summer? Candlelight was his only option if he chose to write his plays and sonnets after the sun had set. The same applied to Samuel Pepys, who we can assume wrote at least a portion of his diary entries in the evening as he recorded his reflections on the day. And Pepys didn’t just write about his experiences in the spring and summer, but throughout the year. And of course Charles Dickens was a prolific writer for twelve months of each year, with only candlelight, oil or gas lamps to enable him to write in all four seasons.