Healthcare professionals worldwide face winter-related clinicians’ fatigue, energy dips, and mood challenges during the colder months. This guide explores evidence-based strategies, nutrition, circadian rhythm support, and environmental adjustments to help clinicians stay well during winter shifts.
Shorter days, reduced sunlight, and intensified workloads make winter fatigue and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) common struggles among physicians, nurses, and health professionals. Natural light impacts serotonin and circadian rhythm, while clinical pressures heighten stress and low mood during winter.
This article brings together science-based ideas and the best winter strategies for healthcare workers to help you stay energised, focused, and emotionally grounded during winter shifts. From optimising light exposure and movement to nutrition, mental resilience, team support, and personal tools, the habits explored below are designed for clinicians navigating demanding winter medical schedules.
Keep reading to discover practical strategies to reduce winter fatigue during shifts and take charge of your well-being throughout the winter season.
Understanding How Winter Fatigue Impacts Clinical Performance
Winter can exacerbate seasonal fatigue, especially for clinicians working long or rotating shifts. This happens because light changes can disrupt circadian rhythm and mood.
Winter fatigue, or ‘winter blues’, is scientifically known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It is a type of depression that follows a recurring seasonal pattern, most commonly emerging in late autumn or early winter and remitting by spring or summer.*
Individuals with SAD may experience typical depressive symptoms, such as persistent low mood, low energy, difficulty concentrating, and changes in appetite or sleep, as well as more specific winter-related features like oversleeping, carbohydrate cravings, weight gain, and social withdrawal.
Although estimates vary, a recent meta-analysis suggests that about 5 per cent of people worldwide experience winter-pattern SAD.* There are a few reasons why healthcare professionals can feel it more:
- Reduced sunlight lowers serotonin, increasing low mood during winter.
- Melatonin rises earlier, worsening sleepiness and winter tiredness.
- Hospitals often face peak patient loads, and winter can be a season of understaffing.
- Winter reduces motivation for physical activity, a key buffer against shift work fatigue.
6 Steps to Combat Fatigue and Low Mood During Winter Shifts
Despite the challenges cited above, small and intentional adjustments can make a meaningful difference to reduce winter fatigue during shifts. By understanding how seasonal changes affect the body and mind, and by adopting simple habits, healthcare workers can strengthen their resilience and reduce SAD symptoms throughout the winter months.
1. Use Light to Reduce Winter Fatigue and Support Your Circadian Rhythm
- Use light therapy to signal the start of the day. Prefer bright light in the morning, or pre-shift, and warm, dim light at night.
- Seek Natural Light at Work. Taking two-minute sunlight breaks, brief walks outdoors, and choosing window-side areas for charting helps to diminish winter tiredness.
- Adjust Indoor Lighting. Choose daylight-tone LEDs and reduce blue light exposure before sleep.
- Keep a Stable Wake Time. Even with rotating shifts, keeping wake times consistent on off-days reduces seasonal fatigue.
2. Move More to Improve Mood and Counter Winter Fatigue
During the winter months, staying active becomes especially valuable. Body movement combats winter fatigue quickly and supports winter wellness for clinicians. Studies show that regular exercise can be a powerful ally against depression*, offering mood-boosting benefits that come from increased endorphins, improved sleep, and a sense of routine and achievement.
To maintain your emotional well-being throughout the colder season, prefer structured exercise options such as:
- Indoor cycling
- Yoga
- Strength training
- Swimming
- Treadmill intervals
For healthcare workers in a hectic clinical schedule, micro-movement options are ideal. These include simple exercises that can be done in a small space or during short breaks, such as stretch breaks, resistance band exercises, five-minute stair walking, and walk-and-talk clinical discussions.
3. Fuel Your Body to Fight Winter Fatigue During Long Shifts
- Prioritise complex carbohydrates. Prefer food such as lentils, oats, and sweet potatoes to support serotonin and slow energy release;
- Include protein in every meal, such as eggs, salmon, chickpeas and tofu, to maintain alertness and reduce shift work fatigue;
- Boost winter mood with food rich in vitamin D, omega-3, and magnesium. On the list are mushrooms, sardines, spinach, and fortified dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese.
Drinks-wise, water should be your top priority. Remember to hydrate consistently, as dehydration mimics winter fatigue. Aim for 2–3L a day depending on workload, setting, and body measures. Coffee and caffeine drinks should be included in your routine at the start of the shift, preferably.
4. Strengthen Mental Resilience to Protect Mood and Energy
Seasonal stressors can intensify emotional strain, increasing winter tiredness, but mindfulness practices are essential to reduce winter fatigue during shifts. In this case, apply short mental health habits that fit busy schedules, such as:
- A 2-minute breath reset between patients.*
Breathing exercises help to dial down the body’s stress response by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. When you slow your breath and place emphasis on the out-breath, you allow your body and mind to settle into a more relaxed state.
- A 2-minute breath reset between patients.*
- 3–5 minutes of micro-journaling.*
Known as a non-pharmacological tool in the management of mental illness, journaling can help you to visualise your concerns; track day-to-day psychological and physical symptoms; recognise triggers; and identify negative thoughts and behaviours.
- 3–5 minutes of micro-journaling.*
- Mindfulness during commute.
Doctors can incorporate mindfulness into their commute by paying attention to their breathing, using meditation apps for guidance, and tuning into their senses to remain present and ease anxiety.
- Mindfulness during commute.
- 10-minute walks outdoors.
Following the body movement tips, short walks outdoors during breaks are great for blood flow and mind clearance.
5. Build Supportive Team Behaviours to Fight Winter Fatigue
A healthy social environment protects healthcare workers experiencing shift work fatigue and promotes winter wellness for clinicians. A longitudinal study of older adults found that those who engaged in a greater variety of social activities experienced significantly fewer depressive symptoms over time, even after accounting for non-social activities and baseline mood.*
When team members routinely share coping strategies during handovers, rotate duties, and check in with one another through quick peer conversations or collective mini-breaks, they foster a culture of mutual care.
Leadership also plays a pivotal role in sustaining that culture. By modelling healthy habits, promoting daylight breaks, offering flexible scheduling where possible, and reducing unnecessary administrative burden, healthcare leaders signal that self-care and communal support are valued.
This everyday social interaction not only combats winter fatigue symptoms but also strengthens the emotional resilience needed to weather seasonal challenges.
6. Set Up Your Personal Winter Fatigue Toolkit
A personalised toolkit can help you combine these strategies at once and to reduce winter fatigue during shifts in real time. It allows you to bring practical, mood-supporting resources directly into your shift environment.
Rather than relying on self-discipline alone, having targeted items at hand helps you respond quickly to dips in energy, focus, or emotional balance. This preparation step can make demanding winter shifts feel more manageable and predictable.
Your toolkit might include high-protein snacks to sustain energy, warm layers to maintain comfort inside and outside the clinic, and a water bottle to support steady hydration. A meditation playlist and a small notebook can help you reset mentally during short breaks, while a resistance band enables quick stretches to ease physical tension.
Here’s what to include in your winter fatigue toolkit:
- High-protein snacks
- A compact light therapy lamp
- Warm clothing layers
- Water bottle
- A meditation playlist
- Small notebook for reflection
- Resistance band for stretches.
Thoughtfully assembled, this toolkit becomes a practical companion throughout the season, helping you stay steady, supported, and better equipped to navigate the challenges of winter tiredness.
The best winter strategies for healthcare workers involve simple changes that collectively lift your mood, sharpen your focus, and support your professional performance. By comprehending the biological drivers of winter fatigue, and using tools such as light exposure, nourishing food, consistent routines, and supportive team behaviours, you can stay energised and grounded throughout your winter shifts.
If you notice symptoms that persist for more than two weeks, seeking guidance from a professional or your occupational health service can provide timely support and reassurance. Reaching out early helps protect both your well-being and your ability to care for others.
Winter can be demanding, but you’re not navigating it alone. Many clinicians face similar challenges, and sharing practical solutions can make a real difference for colleagues across the healthcare system.
How do you cope with winter fatigue as a healthcare professional? Share your experiences and any tips for staying energised and mentally well this season in the comments section below.
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