Okay, as many of you will realise from my title, I’m a fan of Game of Thrones, I like both the books and the tv series, though with every season they become more and more separate. This post isn’t really about either, however, so sorry to those who have found there way here because of the GoT connection in the title.
I’m writing today about actual winter, that horrible thing that happens at this time of the year when the sun disappears, the clouds gather, it rains, the temperature drops horrendously and the rain changes to snow.
During this time moods drop and motivation can be hard to come by, just getting out of bed can be incredibly difficult, and you (or at least I) want to eat constantly. As a sufferer of mental health problems, this period of the year is even tougher for me to get through, and I don’t even have the advantage of a regular job, with a boss breathing down my neck, to encourage me to get up and do things.
I am currently unemployed, officially at least, while I work on establishing myself as a published and successful writer. That means I have to get myself up and at the computer if I want to get anything done and make any progress, which is far from easy.
We’re currently in the early stages of winter here in the UK, and I am already going through copious amounts of coffee every day, along with lots of chocolate and other unhealthy snacks, in an effort to give me the energy to work. I also have to hug a hot water bottle to get warm enough to do anything – I’m really not looking forward to the arrival of full winter.
I’m curious, and would really appreciate some answers in the comments, what do you all do, especially the indie writers and self-employed people among my readers, to motivate yourselves and make sure you keep working and get things done?
Alex R Carver 
I’m not a fan of winter either! And when I am writing, I also have to have a source of warmth sitting on my lap. It used to be my cat, but now I have a possum fur cover for a wheat bag which warms up in the microwave. Seventy million possums have overrun New Zealand (population of four million) and so they are having a cull. I helped them out by buying a possum cover. So I feel cosy – that helps, Alex.
Getting up is easy as my head gets into gear and starts ‘writing’ or doing up a To Do list for the day within 5 minutes of waking up. I ring fence 15 hours a week to write/market my books. Of course there is always the day-to-day work that we all have, whether it’s a 9-5, or running a household or whatever. To Do lists are one of my motivators. Writing related stuff is always on it!
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I think to-do lists are very important, if you have a plan for what you want to get done it can push you on.
It’s a pity about the cull, but sometimes these things are necessary if you want to preserve an ecological balance. They do those wheat bags over here in the UK, I’ve been looking at them, but haven’t seen one with a nice cover yet. I’ve got a hot water bottle with a reindeer cover.
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I guess a hot water bottle works just as well. Our UK weather is going to get steadily colder for the next few months and I am not looking forward to that.
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Me neither. Winter is my least favourite time of the year. My mum always used to say I’m like a reptile, I need sunlight and heat to warm my blood and get me moving. Anything under 20C and I struggle.
I’ve been in 50C while abroad and loved it.
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