Winter Fatigue Isn’t Laziness

Feeling wiped out when the days are short doesn’t mean you’re failing it means your body is paying attention. We dig into the winter slowdown and make a case for treating tiredness as a signal, not a flaw. Instead of chasing January hype, we talk about realistic routines that honor biology, reduce guilt, and lead to calmer, steadier energy.

We unpack how electric light and work culture push us to perform like it’s midsummer, even when it’s dark by late afternoon. From skipping social plans to taking a full pyjama day, we share practical ways to rest without apology. We also explore gentle nutrition: warm, comforting food, moderation over restriction, and small shifts that stick. Looking to everyday examples pets who huddle by the heat, families who keep Sunday comfort foods we show how seasonal eating and pacing can actually improve well-being.

Energy is more than caffeine and hustle. We break down the difference between jittery output and the productive, grounded energy that follows real rest. You’ll hear how to set simple boundaries around screens, evening commitments, and work overflow, and why kids need seasonal grace too. Not everyone blooms on the same timeline; some of us are late spring people. That’s okay. Respecting individual rhythms yours and your family’s creates a kinder, more sustainable way to live.

If you’re ready to replace “lazy” with “seasonal,” hit play. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs permission to slow down, and leave a review with the one boundary you’ll set for your winter rest.

Chapters

• 0:00 Naming The Winter Tiredness
• 1:15 Kindness Over Hustle
• 2:40 We’re Mammals With Seasons
• 3:20 Nightfall, Work, And Unreal Expectations
• 5:05 Permission To Slow Down
• 6:20 January Pressure And Gentle Habits
• 7:20 Food, Treats, And Moderation
• 9:00 Rest As Real Energy
• 11:00 Spring Timelines And Late Bloomers
• 13:30 Families, Kids, And Early Mornings
• 16:30 Respecting Individual Rhythms And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Sometimes we just think we're feeling so tired and so lazy and we're really hard on ourselves. Yeah, and we just think, get on with it. What's wrong with me? Why am I like this? Why am I always tired? Everyone else is going out and doing stuff. What is it? What why do I just want to coochie up on the couch and not do absolutely anything? Especially now in January when it's cold or any of the winter months, really, and it gets dark. We really are so hard on ourselves, and that's what we're going to be talking about in this week's episode of Get Real with the English sisters. Hello, and thanks for watching on this thing. Yeah, we really do appreciate it, and we're getting back into this new year of being kind to us. Just being more in the nest. And I think that's just natural. And it's natural, and it's not lazy because in this fast-paced society that we live in, it can feel lazy. It can definitely do anything. Absolutely. When you're declining invites and you feel like, oh, you don't even want to host anymore, or do you think, what is it? You know, the other day I was being hard on myself thinking, what's wrong with me? Why don't I want to go out? Why do I just want to rush back home and go, you know, by the fire, or you know, could just just put throw my pyjamas on and just get warm. Well, what is it? Well, it was the torrential rain. Yeah, it was a lot of rain, but it was also icy. But I do think it's winter, and uh like if we look at uh Otto, our little dog, he doesn't want to go out when it's cold. I know that the cat's the same. Our little rescue cat, she just wants to be indoors in her little bed, and I'm thinking, lucky you. And then I remembered the fact that we're nature, we're mammals, aren't we? Yeah, we're mammals. So why should we you know what all she does, my little cat, is eat and sleep, basically, and then she has a few moments of random activeness when she asks to go outside, but that's it, she just wants to be by the heat, yeah, and eat. She eats like triple. She eats a lot, and so I'm thinking, well, you know, I want to eat too. Yeah, and and then I thought, well, it's normal I want to eat, you know. I am like her. What you know, I am a mammal, and and you know, that's we forget this, we forget it because we have electricity and we're human. We think we're we're we don't need the same things, but we do I think we live up to the standards of being superhuman, that we have to do everything, be everything, be super. Yeah. If you think about what did humans do once upon a time, they would, yes, they would work in the fields or whatever, but then there was no light, and they would just come in and go by the fire and go to bed, and then go to bed and then wait for the next morning where there was sunlight, there was actual light, but nowadays we're expected to work when it's dark outside, and we're still expected to be in our offices and continue seeing people, you know, clients, patients, whatever it is. We've got to realise that does take a toll on us because I know we've come far from you know not having a literacy valise. But there's a natural part of us that is being I think it's been neglected. We're being it's being neglected, and I think we're being too hard on ourselves. Yes, and we're living the thing is that if everybody's doing it, then we feel like the odd ones out. But everybody is if everybody starts to just unwind and relax more, then we're gonna feel more normal too. And and everyone just has to be kind to themselves and just to think, well, this is as I am a natural human being, I want the same things as other mammals do. Some of them are hibernating, some of them are just eating and sleeping. So if we're I mean, I think we have to be kind to ourselves if we manage to get up and everything with this with the daylight, because sun is uh is a big word in some parts of the world, but you get up with daylight and you manage to do your things that you're doing, don't be too hard on yourself. No, take that early night, take it, take it, just accept the fact that you may not want to go out, you don't want to socialise. Okay. My my daughter, she started a new job now, and she was absolutely exhausted. And I said, I'm exhausted. And then we also had some sad news. Uh so I said to her, Are you gonna I'm gonna have a pyjama day today? Yeah, I said I said, Justine, I'm gonna have a pyjama day. What are you gonna do? Are you gonna do the same? And she goes, Well, she was in London and now I was in Rome here, and I and she said, Mum, I think you're right. We're just gonna cozy up and have a pyjama day. It's horrible outside, and I'm absolutely exhausted. You see, that's the most common thing we're hearing now is that people feeling tired, and then there's that pressure to do the January pressure. Oh wow, you know, it's January, it's a new year. What are you doing? What are you? Hey, I'm not doing anything, I'm just surviving January and just gently I think you're in the spring. I think you know, we just have to realise, and then all of the fact that Christmas and all of the new diets, yes, it's great to get back into your normal habits and eat healthy, but every now and again, if you want a treat, don't be too harsh on yourself. You've just come out of the whole of the Christmas period when you could eat whatever you basically wanted, and now it's January. You're gonna say, Oh no, now I have to drastically start fasting or coming off sugars and fats slowly. My advice is do it slowly. The spring starts, and then we naturally, if we follow our natural instincts, we'll naturally feel like eating that way and walking more. Look to our little pet friends. Our pet friends and our other mammals can tell us something about who we are. What do they do when when the weather's warmer? They go out more, they're jollier, they're happier, they start reproducing, they start doing more. So let's not be that harsh on ourselves because there's that part of us that needs to be looked after and cared for. And and I say go for it, you know, be kind, be kind, and yes, make you know, stay home and make yourself a lovely warm winter soup or whatever. Oh, yeah, you can make it healthy, cascarole. But you know, if you do want that extra sweet and you've got a sweet tooth, I mean, don't don't in Italy. I mean, here uh straight after Christmas is carnival time. Oh, and then there's all cakes and sweets again. You take example from the Italians, but they're not that hard on themselves, haven't they? They're healthier, they're one of the healthiest populations. And I'm thinking it's because they do do things in moderation, and so they're not so hard on themselves, and they will have that treat, but maybe they'll limit it to the weekend or just to have a little bit of everything. A little bit too much of everything. Yes, I think that I think that is a trick. Yeah, they don't go mad about I think because it's available, maybe they're not that bothered. I don't know, but you're right now if you go to the to the to the bars and the cafes, they're filled with all these little fried stuff that's for for the carnival, and and you think, wait, Christmas just finished, and now we're going into the carnival. So it's it's a more gentle way, I think. And you know, they're still making the lasagna on a Sunday, and you're still getting all of those warm, comfort foods that I think is good. It's necessary, it's it's necessary, and we we mustn't forget. I think it's just basically let's not forget who who we are, that part of us that belongs to the nature is the same as the trees and the mammals and everything else. Let's not forget that that we're not these super beings, we're not always supposed to be connected, working innately. We have to allow ourselves to switch off a bit. I think so. In the sense of the word, absolutely, and to and to think that you know, resting or having a rest day or a rest evening, or you know, saying I'm not going out this week or next week, or I'm not going out for this for the whole of January because it's freezing and it's cold and it's dark, and it's normal not to want to go out. Exactly. I was, I mean, we live out in the countryside, so there's no way I want to go out after after dark. No, I mean, the only way I want to go out is is like if it's just sort of on the way, like what we said, like we're going from from work and then we're we oh let's just go out for that pizza because we're sort of like on the way, but once you get back home and you put your warm cuddles on, like your cuddly stuff, that's it. You know, you're like, oh, no way do I want to go out there. I do feel guilty about that sometimes. Sometimes I do. So that's why I remind myself that this is normal. It's normal. I think yeah, the the reminder is important to be kind and to just say, no, it's normal to want to do this. I'm not, you know, let's forget about this FOMO and saying everyone else is having fun and whatever. What are they really doing? Everyone else might be out, but they they're tired. Tired the next day and exhausted. Yeah, you're absolutely right. We have such busy lives now, don't we? Yeah, and we have this energy that we have that we we should use wisely, I think. Yeah, I think we should use it wisely, but I don't think we should take it for granted. Because I mean, if you listen to other people on podcasts or just on social media, it's always saying you have lack of energy because you're not getting enough vitamins or because you're not eating properly, or because uh you're in menopause or because you're you've got young children, it's always because of something, but it's never look, it's just normal, it's normal because we're doing too much and we're not resting enough, and we're not getting eight hours' sleep, yeah, and we're getting up really early in the morning and we're on public transport and it's a killer, and we're tired. Exactly, and we're reading our emails at 6 a.m. or 7am and trying to answer people. Hey, but instead we could just say to ourselves, look, it's normal that we're tired because we're actually doing too much. Everybody is. Most people nowadays are just doing too much, absolutely, and they're not getting enough rest and enough sleep and enough rest days, and it's not because you're lazy if you feel tired, sometimes it's because you really just do need a pyjama day of absolutely doing nothing. Yeah, just just just nothing, just getting up and going to make a cup of tea. That's what I do sometimes, just zero. Well, yeah, now that we haven't got small children or anything, like on that Saturday, last Saturday, I just did absolutely nothing. I just was moving from making the tea to go to going back on the couch in my pajamas. Yeah, me too. Just thought and it was amazing. And the next day I had energy. You did have more energy because it's like energy, it needs to come from somewhere. It's like the solar power energy. Where does it come from? It recharges from the sun. Where do we get our energy? From sleeping and resting and eating well and hydrating and everything else. But we need that time in order to be able to recharge. It's not taken for granted that we always have energy, and sometimes it's not the kind of energy we want because it might be uh anxious kind of energy, or it's not that productive energy because we often force ourselves and we we drink more caffeine and we you know we use substances, but that's not the kind of energy we're talking about, it's that other kind of calm energy that's just productive and you it makes you feel good. That's a recharging kind of energy we're talking about. And in order to get that quality energy, you need to look after yourself in a quality kind of way. Exactly. Yes, you need to take the time to rest. And these this these winter months are those kind that is the time in order for you to feel more energized towards the spring. Yeah, and to and then the spring. If you don't feel energized yet, give yourself a break. It's not necessary that you have to spread to action because it's spring. A lot of people are tired in spring. Some of the bulbs wait, don't they? They don't sprout directly. No, they don't. Some of them are late bloomers. They are, so it takes a while to adapt. For instance, where we live, where it's cooler, they do bloom later. They do. But when I come to your house, it's already lots of daffodils are out. The daffodils and the camellias, they're already where we live, it's just all shut down. Because you're in the mountains, yeah. And it's snowy and so there are different seasons and different times, and I think we have to just generally learn to be all kinder to ourselves. And especially if you have a young family, or especially if you've got you take the pressure off. When we had young kids, I always remember a lot of the time. I just remember telling my kids that I was tired. No, mum, can we do this? No, mommy's tired. Yeah, no, sorry, don't have to go home, it's getting dark. Quick, put your pajamas on, get a bath, pajamas on, and just playtime in the bedroom, just really calm, unwind, and face it, yeah, story time, and that was it. It wasn't all this superactive. No, let's go stimulation. No, no, no, no, not at all. Just go back to what it I think go back to remember who we used to, who we are really in our nucleus, who we are as human beings. I think we have to respect that more. Yeah, exactly. Respect that. Yeah, respect that for ourselves. Because nowadays, even as we were referring to children, even children are pushed so hard sometimes. They're so tiny, but they're forced to wake up when it's dark outside because they have to follow our adult schedules, and and sometimes the schools start really early, and they're all so exhausted, and you sometimes you see them and they're just like these little ones, they fall asleep on the desks, they do, and because they're exhausted too. So I think you know, if you've got little ones as well, it's it's nice to sort of accept the fact that they're tired as well, yeah, and to have a little rest there. And yeah, yeah, and just just enjoy not not taking them out all the time and just letting them rest as well because they're they're very in tune with what they want. They they haven't lost it yet. No, they don't. So we can also learn from them, yeah. See what they want to get up to. Yeah, some of them are really. Some of them are really active, and you know, as soon as a crack of dawn they're up and jumping around, but others are more you can see. To respect each child's individuality as well, as we should respect our own individuality. Exactly. That's what I was thinking. We have to learn to respect our own and and not force ourselves so much, once again, you know. So I think we have just about summed it, and we're just about ready to go and have a lovely cup of tea and cooking and a little rest ourselves. So thank you for listening, and see you next time. Lots of love and smiles from the Englishes. Oh, do come and see the video version, which is on YouTube too, and on our shorts, and we're on TikTok, uh, Instagram, wherever you get your social media. And be kind and loving to yourself is gender. Absolutely. Bye.