We Don’t Need New Year’s Resolutions. We Need Rest |
The sky is a soft, dull grey, the sun rises after many of us are awake, and nature—muted under crunchy layers of overnight frost—is silent and sleeping. Christmas is over, and in this darkest, bleakest, and coldest time of the year, in which the rest of the natural world is hibernating, we are… going to the gym?
Conventional wisdom is that we should reinvent ourselves at the beginning of the new year: set resolutions, work harder, keep better habits.
There is nothing wrong with personal growth, but January is the worst time to prioritize it. We need to stop trying to be better in the new year. Here’s why:
Although humans cannot hibernate, we are still biologically designed for a quieter pace of life during winter. The natural lack of sunlight means our bodies produce more melatonin, the sleep hormone, causing us to feel more tired.
According to a 2023 study by the Charité Medical University of Berlin, people generally sleep at least one hour more in winter, with roughly 30 minutes more REM sleep. And while we may compensate for the lack of sunlight with electric light, scientific studies show this has a