When time isn't enough. Seasonal depression and the modern obsession with productivity.
- Pola Kurek
- Nov 28, 2025
- 7 min read
Fall is coming to an end. The breathtaking landscape of crimson, amber, gold and mahogany hues starts to turn into a barren view of naked branches and lone-standing bushes. What was once a lukewarm temperature begins to change with each day, slowly turning frigid. Winter is slowly approaching, you can see the seasons changing. One thought repeats itself in your head over and over. “I have too much work, November is such a hard month”. Too many assignments, everything starts piling up… I'm sure every person has experienced this kind of workload at least once. Your mood worsens with each day and so does the view outside the window. Yet the determination inside of you isn't dead (yet). You feel the need to “get back on the grind”, even if the pressure of various assignments weighs you down, slowing your progress down significantly. The change from autumn to winter usually comes with a lot of tiredness and exhaustion. That begs the question: is seasonal depression really a thing? Or is it just our unhealthy obsession with productivity that pushes us to our limits? Is it normal to feel “burnt out” when winter comes?
Why does our mood shift when the seasons change?
The heaviness that winter usually brings with itself is almost mysterious. It weighs down on our minds, slowing us down in all of our doings and shifting our mood for the worse. This phenomenon can be linked to a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), or more informally, seasonal depression. This is a form of depression that follows a seasonal pattern, and it is most common during late autumn and winter. Our mood is highly dependent on the amount of sunlight that we get. This is mostly due to the fact that serotonin, which is usually associated with happiness and well-being, is produced in higher amounts when more sunlight is available. It is also important to mention that the decreased amount of sunlight disrupts our internal clock, along with the production levels of melatonin, which is responsible for regulating sleep. This is the reason why darker days, and the changing in seasons, usually brings us a poorer mood and lowers our productivity, which leaves us more fatigued and less motivated.
Of course, not all of this can be attributed to biology. If we look outside the biological aspects, we can see that there's a certain factor, either cultural or social, that can bring our mood down even more during those darker months. Nowadays, society dictates a rule which states that “productivity = worth”. To some, the autumn and winter season makes them drown in expectations society has put on them. We measure our days by how much we do and our lives by what we achieve. To be productive means to be good, while being unproductive is equal to being a failure. Or so we think. Productivity does not measure one's worth, and everyone has to take breaks from time to time. It's simply impossible for our bodies to sustain the strain that we put on ourselves. The thing that's especially concerning is that some people tend to interpret the seasonal decline in energy not as something that's due to our biological aspects, and something that's out of our jurisdiction, but as a personal failure.
The friction that shows up between the change in seasons and our mood reflects the inner conflict that many individuals with Seasonal Affective Disorder face. We live in a world that praises those who are constantly busy, the ones who always seem to do something, but no one really cares what's happening to them behind closed doors. To answer one of the questions I stated before: yes, seasonal depression really is a thing. Women are 4 times as likely to be diagnosed with SAD, and millions of people worldwide suffer from this disorder. It's only natural for some to feel burnt out when autumn comes, especially when things start piling up.
The culture of busyness and the weight it carries
We live in an era that overly glorifies productivity and busyness. It's present everywhere: from self-improvement podcasts, through productivity apps to motivational quotes that flood our feeds daily. No matter which app you open, there's a chance you will come across quotes and scenarios that try to invoke the feeling that you need to get everything done, that you need to be the best and that the place you're currently in is not good enough. While it is important to have priorities and stay motivated, some people take the “cult of productivity” to awful extremes. It all seems to rise in intensity whenever autumn and winter rolls around. The videos you see online all seem to revolve around the same exact quote: “you have the same 24 hours as everyone else”. Even though this message is meant to inspire, it often leads people into a trap. When people are overwhelmed with loads and loads of schoolwork, it inevitably pushes them to enter a cycle of “self-optimization”, where resting feels like weakness or not using your full potential and slowing down in your doings means failure.
In the winter months, when our body and biological rhythm especially needs rest, this mindset becomes particularly detrimental. Many students tend to interpret their seasonal habits as pure laziness, and while the changes in season may make us feel slightly more lazy, it does not mean that our “burn out” is laziness. Ironically, the obsession with productivity doesn't make us more efficient. This obsession makes us become chronically tired. The more we push against our internal cycles, the harder it becomes to focus, create, or feel satisfied with our work. The burnout that arrives in November or December isn't just mental fatigue, it's a symptom of a major conflict between human rhythm and the time that we have to our disposal.
The myth of constant self-improvement and the illusion of control
We could say that at the heart of our obsession with productivity lies a fear - a fear of losing control. The short days of winter are a constant reminder of the fact that time is not infinite. The daylight disappears faster, and so do our possibilities to “achieve more”. It is not rare to have this phenomenon cause a rise in anxiety and causes the feeling of urgency. We try to compensate for everything, almost as if every sunrise and every sunset were a deadline we need to meet. It is quite ironic: whenever we try to take control of the time we have, the more we are aware of how short it is. It's quite easy to miss the fleeting late autumn moments when the time feels like it's slipping through your fingers.
An additional factor that strengthens the feeling of seasonal depression is the myth of constant self-improvement. By saying this, I don't mean that it's impossible to have any improvements. It's more about the belief that everything has to be done perfectly to ensure improvements. Every November, we start to get flooded with the end-of-year messages. It's always about “finishing strong” or the classes “new year, new me”. Some people take it even further, starting their “winter arc” when October or November rolls around. It is a popular trend on social media, especially TikTok, which focuses on the culture of self-development and maximizing the usage of your free time, leaving almost no space to rest. Social media in this case becomes the fuse, fueling the vision of a loser and the need to gain as many achievements as possible, which in the end causes self-doubt and hesitation.
Perhaps the most radical solution in the world that is fueled by an obsession with productivity is choosing when to rest, and how to rest without feeling guilty. Choosing to slow down, especially when everything else tells you to speed things up, is a rebellious act against the belief that worth is determined by labor and achievements. We cannot stop winter from coming, but we can learn to change our approach towards it. Everyone needs a moment of pause, no matter if it's small or big. Whether it's enjoying a cup of hot chocolate on a November night or choosing to take a break in between studying sessions.
Whenever November feels heavy, whenever your body begs for rest and your mind starts whispering that you're falling behind, remember: it's more than okay to slow down. You are not broken for feeling tired. You are just simply responding to the world that surrounds you.Winter is not the enemy of productivity. It's a cold reminder that life isn't meant to constantly move at a fast pace. The trees know when to let go of their leaves, so maybe we should take the hint.
Page design: Pola Kurek
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