Bad days – we all have them. Not even the most successful person that you can think of is immune from having a bad day. In fact, if someone tells you that they never, ever have a bad day then they are probably not telling the truth. Since bad days are inevitable, it makes sense to think ahead of time about what you will do when you have one.
The right bad-day coping strategy can help you to get through a tough day and also can help you to keep a bad day from turning into a bad week or a bad month. While you can not usually control the things that cause your day to go south in a hurry, you do have control over how you respond to them. One thing that you can do, in fact, is to pause for a moment when something bad happens and remind yourself (gently, of course) that although you did not choose to have this bad thing happen you can choose what your response will be. Sometimes this is all it takes to turn you from feeling defeated to feeling empowered and able to find a solution to your problem.
Of course, not every problem can be solved that easily. Fortunately, there are still ways that you can deal constructively with even the worst things that happen. When you get bad news or discover a problem it may be useful to take a break from whatever you are doing. If you are tired or hungry, even a small problem can seem like the end of the world. Take a moment to notice of you need something to eat or maybe a little rest. If you are not tired or hungry, take a walk. Sometimes attending to an unmet need for food or rest, or getting outdoors for a walk can help to put a problem into perspective and refresh your body and mind.
A few other things that may be helpful include reminding yourself that it is okay to have a bad day and that everyone has them from time to time. Also, giving yourself permission to do a little less than you normally would can sometimes be helpful. Depending upon the severity of the problem, you may even want to see how you can redistribute your work load over the next few days so that you can take an entire day off. Overall, be gentle with yourself. You can get through this bad day, and things will get better even if they seem very bad right now.