protecting your employees from winter fatigue

August 13, 2024

Have you ever noticed feeling more sluggish or tired as winter arrives or as it continues? It may feel like getting out of bed is more difficult than normal or you may hit a mid-day period where your motivation and energy levels barely register.

If you’re feeling this way, there’s a good chance that your employees are too. According to the CDC, fatigue can slow reaction times, limit short-term memory, impair judgment and reduce attention or concentration.¹ How can you help your employees – and yourself – avoid winter fatigue and remain healthy and productive when its cold outside?

What is Winter Fatigue?

It’s a feeling of sluggishness that seems to start when the days get shorter and colder. What causes it? It can be the result of many things:

Less sunlight: As the Earth moves away from the sun during the winter months, we have lower temperatures and shorter days. In fact, the difference between the longest and shortest days of the years is about six hours of sunlight. Less sunlight has a major impact on your body’s circadian rhythm, which causes increased production of the sleep hormone melatonin.² That means that you tend to feel more tired in the winter. 

MedExpress Pro Tip: If your employees work overnight shifts, have frequent shift changes or spend most of their days in artificial light, their circadian rhythm may be affected.  You can learn more in our blog about ways to fight employee fatigue

Reduced vitamin D: Beyond looking gorgeous and feeling good to be in, sunlight also delivers plenty of vitamin D. This important vitamin influences everything from neuromuscular function to our immune systems.³ Just ten minutes a day of sun exposure increases the production of serotonin, which may combat seasonal effective disorder (SAD).4 Yet during shorter and colder days, getting those ten minutes may be difficult. If you’re looking for sun-free ways to get more Vitamin D, this blog has plenty of ideas to get you recharged.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): SAD is a form of depression that generally lasts only during the winter months and goes away during the rest of the year. When combined with the symptoms above as well as holiday-related stress, SAD can be quite harmful. Symptoms include:⁵

• A sad mood that does not go away
• Loss of interest in activities
• Trouble sleeping or excessive sleeping
• Overeating
• Depression
• Suicidal thoughts*

What Are the Symptoms of Winter Fatigue?

The symptoms of winter fatigue are much like traditional fatigue, except that when it gets warm out and people get more time under the sun, they usually start feeling better. Symptoms may include:

• Lack of energy
• Excessive tiredness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Brain fog
• Lack of motivation

What Can You Do to Combat Winter Fatigue?

Everyone deals with winter fatigue in their own way. However, the following tips may help you and your workforce. Share these with them and start an open dialogue where everyone can learn what helps them. Here are a few ideas to get started: 

Increase opportunities to get light: This starts by getting natural light as soon as you wake up. Open the curtains and get outside, if possible, to soak up as much natural vitamin D as you can. If your business has access to natural light, lift the blinds or curtains to get into your workspace. There are also light therapy boxes and lightbulbs that simulate natural light. Consider adding those to a special area within your workplace.

Add some exercise: A workout soon after waking up and another in the middle of the day will help wake you up get the blood flowing. Just make sure that you don’t work out close to bedtime, as you’ll get the opposite effect and be too energized to sleep. If your workplace is an office where most employees remain seated all day, encourage them with standing desks, opportunities to get up and move around the office or creating an exercise club.

Get plenty of sleep: Seven to nine hours of sleep is essential when it comes to dealing with winter fatigue. It also helps to build a consistent sleep cycle by going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day of the week.

MedExpress Pro Tip: Most Americans don’t get enough sleep. That can lead to a negative effect on their physical and mental health as well as impact their productivity at work. Want to learn more? We’ve put together an article about how you can help your workforce avoid sleep disorders.

Turn to your provider: If you’ve added sunlight, sleep and exercise to your routine and still feel exhausted, it’s time to talk to an expert. Your provider can test to see if you have a vitamin D deficiency or chronic fatigue. Encourage your employees to do the same. Often, we see someone tired at work as lazy when the truth could be a medical issue that they have no control over.

The Impact of Winter Fatigue on Work

According to the National Safety Council, more than 43 percent of workers are sleep-deprived and the lack of productivity from fatigued workers costs employers $1,200 to $3,100 per employee annually.⁵ 

When you combine winter fatigue and employees that must work outside in cold temperatures, the opportunity for lowered safety also increases. It’s important to check on your employees and discuss how they’re feeling. Their mental health is just as important as their physical health and can impact everyone around them, as the symptoms of winter fatigue can lead to less productivity and a decrease in perceiving work hazards.

While the winter months can be a focal time for fatigue, adjustments to time changes in the spring and fall can also impact how alert our bodies are. You should add tiredness and work fatigue to your safety checklist all year long. 

Originally published March 2023. Updated August 2024. 

References:

1 CDC. About Work and Fatigue. Last updated March 4, 2024. Accessed August 13, 2024.

2 National Library of Medicine / National Center for Biotechnology Information. Effects of light on human circadian rhythms, sleep and mood. Accessed January 22, 2024.

3 National Library of Medicine / National Center for Biotechnology Information. Guidelines for Preventing and Treating Vitamin D Deficiency. Last updated February 15, 2023. Accessed January 22, 2024.

4 National Library of Medicine / National Center for Biotechnology Information. Vitamin D and Depression: Where is all the Sunshine? Accessed January 22, 2024.

5 National Safety Council. Fatigue – You're More Than Just Tired. Accessed January 22, 2024.