I don’t know how you refer to that infamous portion of parenting in the afternoon/early evening where suddenly everything has to happen in a very short window: dinner! clean up! bath time! bed! In our house, it is known as crazy hour, mostly because this is exactly how it feels.

Pre-Iso, there was even more pressure with the adjustment of coming home from school and having to incorporate readers into the mix. But whatever one calls it, that stretch of time remains the same – chaotic.

It was one of the reasons I used alcohol before. My major excuse. ‘I just need it to ‘get through’ crazy hour’, I would tell myself as the pours got bigger and the glasses emptied faster. That infamous afternoon lull in my own energy, combined with the suddenly exponential list of tasks and the unavoidable (and painful) monotony that is forcing kids to do things they can’t be bothered to do – well, all of that added up to something I needed to escape from.

When I finally realised alcohol wasn’t doing what I was bragging it could, it was an unbearably hard moment. What the hell was I supposed to do instead?

And, for a long time, it was more of a matter of scraping through crazy hour. Replacing the alcohol with expensive tonic water and sugar, trying to distract myself just long enough so that the cravings passed by.

Fast forward to over a year later and I’m pleased to say that I’ve found a much better solution. One that actually does give me the boost of energy I need, doesn’t require any 3am guilt sessions, and it only takes 30 seconds.

What is it?

Meet: The Cold Shower.

Okay, okay, it sounds horrible and I agree, the thought of immersing yourself freezing cold water, particularly as the seasons tick over into winter, sounds like a cruel joke. But, hear me out.

It’s Never as Bad as You Think

Those first few seconds are a shock, I admit, but after that – you really do adjust to the temperature of the water. I always have a warm shower first, of course, and then just switch the water over to cold for those last 30-60 seconds, and by the end of it, you really just feel invigorated.

Plus, getting out of the shower into the cold air afterwards is easy. When your body temperature has already adjusted, there is no ‘post-shower shivering’.

It’s Fast

I don’t have time to savour a cup of tea or read a book during crazy hour, but a quick shower – that, I can do. I set up the dinner to a point where it can cook by itself, put on a show for the kids, and then disappear to the bathroom for five-ten minutes. By the time I have reemerged, the show hasn’t even finished and dinner has progressed – winning!

It Lasts

From comparison to nights when I’ve skipped this step, I can notice a real difference in my energy levels. Without it, I’m more grumpy and irritable, more likely to yell at the kids and it’s just harder to move my body to get to all the things that need to be done.

But, the boost from the experience lasts right up until bedtime (which, admittedly for me is now 9pm because there ain’t no way I could get up at 5am without becoming a total night-time granny).

But Wait, There’s More

Turns out cold showers are actually super good for a whole host of other things as well – like strengthening your immune system, boosting your metabolism, delivering a better mood, and even dampening the effects of pain.

You don’t have to be Wim Hof to experience the benefits either – even 30 seconds is enough to trigger these effects.

Disclaimer

Now, I know this won’t work for everyone and I’m increasingly realising how important it is for your habits to suit you or they just won’t stick (check out Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg if you want to know more). But in the small chance that this might help someone, I’m putting it out there as a habit to experiment with.

Let me know if you try it and how you go! I’d love to hear from you.