Hibernation

My dislike of January is well known - I do a post like this about this time every year.

I don't like the cold. I seem to have the blood of a lizard. And I really don't like snow. When you can sit at home all day by the fire, and don't have to be anyplace, it probably looks pretty, but when you have to go to work in it - particularly on public transport - it's a pain in the backside. At least in London our snow fall is generally fairly short lived. If I liked snow I'd still be living in Canada, where it covers the ground for nearly six months of the year.

I spend January bundled up in thick jumpers and thermal vests and socks, shivering on the station platform waiting for a delayed train, arguing with my office mates about how hot we can have the central heating (I want it at 'tropical' mode - they don't), and generally feeling tired and run down. I seem to go into a kind of hibernation. Getting out of bed in the morning is a supreme effort and I drag through each day feeling half asleep, not being able to focus my brain on anything. Moving becomes an effort. I don't go to the gym, I don't do much writing, and I spend as much time as possible in bed. But it doesn't really matter because no matter how much or little sleep I get, I still struggle to stay awake during the day. And I crave sugar and carbs even more than usual, because I feel I need the energy.

When I'm not at work, I spend my time playing video games, because they don't require too much mental energy and distract me from how tired I'm feeling. Now, I am aware of my weaknesses. I would be quite capable of spending all day, every day playing video games if I didn't have to go to work. And there are many weekends in January when I do pretty much do that, leaving the sofa only to use the bathroom, go to bed, or get myself more chocolate. But the price you pay for being a grown-up is having to do stuff you don't really want to do a lot of the time, like go to work every day.

So far I've not had a terribly productive January. I've eaten a lot of biscuits, and made progress in 'Dragon Age', but not done much else. Come to think of it, I was in the same situation last year.

Roll on Spring, when I can wake up and emerge from my hibernation...