Unfortunately, if you live in Canada and you have a driveway, shovelling snow is an inescapable reality. But that doesn’t mean it has to make you miserable. Here are 6 tips to make your life easier when Father Frost pays a visit to your driveway.

1. Bundle up. If your neck and ears could talk, they’d tell you to put on a scarf and hat before standing outside in the cold for half an hour. Don’t make an unpleasant task even more unpleasant by shivering the whole time. Put on several layers of lightweight clothing, gloves, a hat, and a scarf before heading out the door.
2. Practice proper technique. Take a few minutes to stretch before starting in order to warm up your muscles. When lifting, remember to lift from your legs, not your back. Don’t twist from your waist when you throw the snow aside; instead, turn your feet in the direction you’re throwing. Safety is the main concern here.
3. Plan intelligently. In general, you shouldn’t start shovelling while it’s still snowing out, since you’ll just end up having to repeat the job later (exception: if it’s a really heavy storm, it might make sense to divide the labour into stages). In the same vein, hold off on shovelling the snow at the end of the driveway (i.e. where it meets the road) until you actually need to back out with your vehicle. There’s nothing worse than clearing the snow from the end of the driveway only to have the plow come by and erase all your hard work.
4. Don’t pile the snow right next to your driveway. If you do this, bits of snow will inevitably come tumbling back down, creating more work for yourself. Instead, make an effort to heave the shovelled snow a good distance away from you. You’ll thank yourself for it in the long run.
5. Multi-task. Shovelling snow can be painfully boring if that’s the only thing you’re doing. Keep your mind occupied by bringing a portable music player with you, or thinking through a problem you’re tackling at work. Repetitive tasks like shovelling snow free up the mind for a lot of really great thinking time.
6. Reward yourself for your hard work. It takes a strong and heroic person to brave the cold for the greater good of the driveway. You deserve a little something for your effort. Reward yourself with something you wouldn’t normally indulge in – like a steaming mug of hot chocolate or an extra helping of dessert. Knowing what’s waiting for you as a prize will incentivize you to move faster, and the job will be finished before you know it.

No one enjoys shovelling the driveway, but these tips can make the job a bit more pleasant. Ad don’t forget: soon it will be spring and you can put it all behind you for another eight or nine months.