Six Ways to Get Outside in the Winter (and / or If You Work From Home)
Winnipeg winters can be brutal. From our mosquito problem in the summer to the -40 degrees C temperatures in the winter, it’s not exactly the most ideal place to live, climate-wise. And as winter rolls around again, I find myself searching for ways to ensure that I actually leave the house.
No excuses!
This winter, it’s especially interesting for me since I’m working from home. I don’t even have to leave the house to go to work! Combine that with my introverted nature, and I could probably last for days without going outside in the winter. Part of me is delighted at that thought (hurray, no need to bundle up in seven layers and still be freezing cold!), but another part of me is, obviously, very aware that leaving the house is important. And that leads us to today’s blog post:
Six Ways to Get Outside in the Winter (and / or If You Work From Home):
1) Volunteer. This year, I’m volunteering for a resource & development committee that meets once each month, so I get to attend in-person meetings every four weeks. It’s not a huge amount of time, but it really is a great reason to get outside in the evening! It’s also an excellent opportunity to give back to the arts community and meet awesome people. The other group that I volunteer for primarily connects online during the winter months, but I did get to volunteer at our annual fundraiser last month, so that was nice.
Our cute little Fruit Share booth!
2) Make plans with a friend. Go out and socialize! Spend time at a local pub or coffee shop (or a super awesome board game cafe). This is possibly one of the best ways I can think of to leave your house at this time of year 🙂
3) Have an in-person meeting (instead of a meeting over the phone or via email). When you work from home, it’s easy to only ever connect with clients and co-workers via phone or email. Instead, have an in-person meeting. Go for lunch at a local restaurant, head to their office and use the board room, or go for after-work drinks to chat. Face-time makes a big difference when it’s people you work with.
Tweet This4) Embrace the cold with cold-weather activities like skiing and skating. The river isn’t frozen over enough to skate on it yet, but next month winter sports should be very accessible in Winnipeg! I’m always fascinated with how the temperature seems much colder when you’re walking in it as opposed to skiing or skating. Going for an evening stroll is a nice way to get out of the house in the winter, but if you have access to a skating rink or skiing trails (or if you have snowshoes!), it’s much more fun to partake in activities that are seasonal (and, therefore, more of a novelty).
5) Plan for a remote working day. If you work from home all the time, get out and work remotely! Go to a coffee shop—your favorite one, or try a new one you’ve never been to (preferably a local place—support your local economy!). You could also try working at the library or even going to a friend’s place, if they also work from home.
6) Participate in community events. My favorite? Going to the theatre! The mother dear and father dear have had season tickets to RMTC for as long as I can remember, and Mr Science and I are super lucky that they take us with them. This happens every six weeks and it is a fantastic way to get out of the house and get cultured at the same time. We also have something called First Fridays in the Exchange District, where I live, in which a bunch of local artists open their doors on the first Friday of each month and you can see what their studios are like and all of the cool art they are doing (from engravings to oil paintings to sculptures and more).
This is easy for me since I am a year-round bicycle commuter — I have to be out in the cold 7 days per week.
Interestingly, now that I’m back in Colorado (after 15 years in San Diego), winter is not the monster I have expected to be.
I have bike in -12 F, and in wind gusts of 80mph –those are not exaggerations. I cant say that I will ever embrace winter, but I can honestly say I no longer fear it. For me this is a great victory.
As to your ideas, volunteering is the best one — in my opinion. People do so much less volunteering in winter, so that is when it is most needed!
I can’t believe you can bike in that! That’s awesome.
So many awesome things can come out of volunteering 🙂