You’ve made it through the holiday season and into the New Year, a period of time that is often quite difficult for singles and online daters. All of that pressure to “find someone special” can make what are supposed to be happy times into depressed and unpleasant times.

But now it’s February and those dismal, depressed times should be long gone, right? Wrong! Just because the holidays are over does not mean online daters aren’t still feeling the winter blahs. It’s still getting dark early, the weather is still pretty crummy, and it’s still hard sometimes to find yourself looking for dates and feeling quite alone.

So what can you do to overcome these winter dating blahs? As it turns out, plenty!

Keep to a routine – Establish a routine and stick to it because this kind of structure has a positive effect on your mood. The best routines include regular exercise, healthy eating habits, and getting enough sleep each night.

Keep your friends close – The winter blahs are all about feeling a lack of energy, so fight them off by keeping in contact with your friends who energize you. Talk regularly on the phone, set up regular coffee or lunch dates, and make sure you have regular contact with those people who are most energizing and fun to be around.

Practice optimism – It’s easy to get “stuck” in negativity during the winter months; it’s too hard to find dates, the weather is too ugly to go outside, and the like. Remember, though, that the power of positive thinking and optimism are real. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of what you’re feeling and experiencing, make a point of paying attention to the positive aspects of your life. It sounds silly, but it really does work.

Dating Essentials Depression, Friends, Holidays, Winter

Recession. Unemployment. Home foreclosures. It seems everywhere you turn these days, the news is filled with stories about how tough the economy is across all income levels, locations, and professions. And while there’s no doubt that it’s a terribly tough time for those who are out of work, a small glimmer of good news is coming out of the online dating industry.

Online dating is one of the few really strong growth industries around; by some estimates, it’s poised to expand as much as 20% to even 30% in the next one to two years. With all of this tremendous growth, then, it’s not too surprising that the online dating industry is one sector that has experienced (and continues to experience) steady job growth.

What most people don’t stop to think about is all of the “behind the scenes” stuff that goes on at an online dating website. From programmers to customer relations to marketing to web designers and more, there are lots and lots of jobs available for those who are interested in pursuing them. In most cases the jobs are clustered in whatever city or location is the headquarters (or major regional hub) of the dating site itself, but in some cases you may be able to work remotely.

For instance, Match.com and Chemistry.com have a number of jobs posted for their Dallas, Texas, location, while eHarmony.com lists several diverse types of jobs for their Pasadena, California, location. There are even a number of international online dating sites with plenty of job openings, including DatingDirect.com (France), Shaadi.com (India), Lavalife.com (Canada), and FriendScout24.com (Germany).

So if you’re looking for a job and feeling frustrated, it might be a good idea to check out job postings at a variety of online dating websites.

Dating Essentials Dating Business, Economy, Jobs

It’s a well known phenomenon that during the cold winter months, people tend to have sex more often; just take a look at the number of babies typically born in August, September, and October, and you’ll see how true this is. But what about all of those singles out there who aren’t involved in a relationship? What do they do when a raging snowstorm keeps them inside for days on end?

Turns out, they go online and join online dating sites. From Australia to the United Kingdom to the United States, online dating services report significant surges in website visitors and new members during the winter months. This has been especially true during the winter of 2009/2010 so far because it has been such a tremendously cold and wintry season.

For instance, in the UK there are reports from MySingleFriend.com and Singles365.com that their visitor tallies were up from 27% to as much as 55% during the recent plunge in temperatures and piles of snow. And it’s not just the snowbound in the UK turning to online dating sites, either; in the United States the adultery online website AshleyMadison.com reports it gained as many as 10,000 new members each day during the recent spate of snowstorms and frigid temperatures.

So the next time you’re trapped inside by cold temperatures, snow, ice, or the like, why not take a look at an online dating site? With all of those new members signing up you’re more likely than ever to find someone special online!

News & Views Ashley Madison, Cold, Dating Websites, Winter