Temperature tantrum:
Winter workdays can be a real pain, unless you embrace the cold
There’s something about watching the snow fall; it’s picturesque and calming and can evoke nostalgic memories of childhood and prompt you to take a winter walk.
And then there’s the snow you have to endure commuting to work.
“I am so done with snow and cold and ice,” says Jenna Lindquist, who commutes downtown on the Metra each day from Crystal Lake. “It’s nice for the first 10 minutes it snows. Then it’s just a pain. And once Christmas is over, I have no use for winter whatsoever.”
For the previous two winters, Lindquist says she worked from home so winter meant nothing. “In fact, I actually appreciated it, especially from my couch with my laptop,” she says.
But thanks to a company policy that requires Lindquist and her business development colleagues to work from the office four days a week, that appreciation has disappeared. “Last month, when it was super cold, I had to go into the office,” Lindquist says. “I was planning on driving but between my kids being home from school and whining about the car and my husband being off work, I didn’t have a car. So it was the train for me.”
Even though her family members would drop her off at the Metra station in the morning and pick her up in the evening, Lindquist says even five minutes outside were enough to put her in a bad mood. “Lots of swearing, I can tell you that,” she says. “And the entire reason I had to come into the office — some deal we were trying to get finished by the end of the year — was delayed until later, which was just perfect,” she says.
Nina Elliott, a freelance graphic designer, says one of the perks of her job — even before the pandemic — was that she could work from home during the winter months. “There’s something so depressing about dragging myself out of bed in the dark and walking to the L on a morning that is devoid of color,” Elliott says. “I’d rather keep my pajamas on, make a cup of coffee and get right to work.”
Rita Dane, also a freelance designer, says she would rather work in a busy shared workspace than her quiet apartment, regardless of the temperature. “I find that if I have a lot of work to do, being in the office and surrounded by the buzz of activity is a helpful way to deal with the crappy weather outside,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean I like the commute. I just tolerate it.”
Robert Prescott, a financial consultant and former HR manager, says there’s validity in Dane’s approach. “I used to work with a marketing manager who was hell-bent on practically doubling the amount of work his employees did during February and March. His theory was that the busier they were, the less likely they were to be affected by the weather. It seemed kind of archaic but I have to admit that it actually worked,” Prescott says. “People who worked with the firm for years knew that they spent February and March doing a lot of planning and writing numerous proposals. They had too much work to do and deadlines to meet to dwell on the weather. And they knew they’d have a lighter workload come spring and summer.”
Renee Opal says she enjoys staying busy when it’s cold outside simply because there’s less for her to do outside. “I’m a pretty avid walker and it’s just harder to do that when it’s cold outside. I like walking in the sunshine, even if it is a little chilly,” she says. “I kind of get a longing for those walks in the winter but if I’m busy I realize it’s something I really can’t do at the present moment so I just keep my head down and get back to work. People tell me to snowshoe and embrace the cold but no thanks. In my free time in the winter, I’ll just watch TV. And if I want to work out, I’ll jump on the treadmill.”
But walks can go a long way to improving Opal’s mood, says personal trainer Lorenzo Rendi of Chicago. “I think being outside is the great equalizer,” says Rendi. “It does something to your body that keeps your equilibrium in check.”
Rendi says he started taking walks during lunch several years ago. “I wanted to lose some weight and I found that even when the weather was lousy, there were still smells and sounds and sights in the outdoors that you just couldn’t get inside while sitting at a desk,” he says. “I’m not saying a 10-degree day with no sunshine is the perfect setting for a long walk in the forest preserve but to me, it’s still better than sitting at a cubicle.”
Rendi’s lunchtime walks helped him lose nearly 70 pounds and transitioned him to a new career as a personal trainer. “Being outside, even when it’s freezing out, makes a huge difference. Just getting out there and breathing the air can put your mind at ease,” he says.