It's that time of the year again -- the leaves are falling, the air is crisp, and your productivity has come to a halt. You never seem to have energy, and you just don't understand why. You find yourself wondering why you can't get anything done, and you come up with nothing. In reality, the answer is written in the stars -- or should I say, in the sky. Our lovely friend the Autumnal Equinox began on Sept. 23, 2015 and has since graced us with nearly equal parts day and night, a change that is always hard to get used to as we stray away from the long, lively days of summer and into what seems like the eternal darkness that starts at 5 p.m. each day. You may have trouble adjusting to life in the dark and may even find yourself cursing our beloved equinox -- but rest assured, you are not alone. There are five common thoughts every person has when it’s lights out.
1. When did it get so dark out?
We ask ourselves this every single day. We even find this question to be appropriate small talk as we gaze wistfully into the distance with our friends, reminiscing on bright days of summers past. When did it get so dark out? The answer is most likely around 5 p.m., just as it has been since late September/early October. Do we ask ourselves this because we forget the answer? No. We ask because we simply cannot fathom how little Vitamin D we received that day, how little sunshine we saw, and how we are expected to function as human beings past the sunset. The setting sun symbolizes the end of a day – and for most of us, the end of our productivity, which is why we end up thinking...
2. I have accomplished nothing today.
Unless you’re up with the sun every morning, you’ll probably go to bed at night feeling like you have some unfinished business, and with good reason. When you’re awake for significantly fewer hours of sunlight during the day as opposed to the never-ending hours of brightness you were accustomed to in the summer, it’s easy to feel like you just don’t have enough time to get everything done. And that’s okay for now. You’ll get your beloved hours upon hours of sunlight back – eventually.
3. I was going to, but...
Ah, the sweet, sweet sound of justification. I was going to go to the gym, but it just got so dark out. Or, I was going to start that paper, but I just got so tired. You were probably going to do a lot of things today. You were probably going bang out all of your homework, start a YouTube channel, attend a hot yoga class, eat a healthy dinner, feed the poor, and start reading the book that’s collecting dust on your nightstand. You probably had high hopes. You should know by now that you’re only as productive as the amount of hours the sun shines for, and at this point, you don’t need a reason for not having done everything you set out to do today. Let the blanket of darkness be your excuse and simultaneously tuck you into bed at 5 p.m.. You most likely aren’t getting anything done when the sun goes to sleep, so you might as well sleep, too.
4. I am exhausted.
Those few short hours of sunlight were pretty tough, huh? Probably not. You feel drained at 5 p.m. when the sun has nearly set, even if you got a full eight hours of sleep and had breakfast that morning to kick-start your day and your metabolism. There’s no escaping it. No amount of sleep or training or skill or caffeine can trick your body the way it has tricked you into thinking 5 p.m. is bedtime. This one isn’t your fault. Blame it on your brain, not yourself.
5. There's always tomorrow.
You’re right, there is always tomorrow. It will surely come. But your productivity will probably remain staggeringly low. Still, you truly want to believe that tomorrow will be different. As you lay your head down on your pillow at approximately 6 p.m., you fantasize about how productive you will be the next day. You will wake up early. You will seize the day. You might even put on makeup. But when tomorrow rolls around and you bask in those few hours of sunlight, then cringe as the sun sets in the west, you’ll give up all hope of accomplishing anything important. You’ll realize that you live in a never-ending cycle of some light followed by infinite darkness, and you’ll realize that the only thing that can save you – and your productivity – is the welcome daylight that comes with the Vernal Equinox in late March.
The sun will shine longer, the flowers will bloom again, and you won’t despise yourself quite as much when spring rolls around. But in the meantime, enjoy the darkness – it may help you see a little more clearly and be more grateful when the birds start chirping again.
