Bad days happen to everyone.  You’re running late, stuck in traffic, spill coffee on your white shirt, and mispronounce your own name while introducing yourself in your 9 AM meeting (that you were also late to).  One shitty moment seems to lead to the next.  

Regardless of bad timing, bad bosses, or bad alignment of the moon and stars all trying to wreck your mojo, there is a quick path back to sanity where a bad day can get better fast.

How to Break the Cycle

First things first.  That moment where you say to yourself, “I’m having a bad day,” stop and regroup for 5 minutes.  It’s likely several things have already gone wrong and continuing down the same path will probably lead to more pain. 

• Escape – Disappear to a safe space for 5 minutes to minimize the potential for anything/anyone to further complicate your day.  Your car, the break room, the bathroom, your office, or taking a walk are all possibilities.  Shut off your email, messenger, and phone if technology is nearby.

• Stop telling yourself stories – Your imagination may be tormenting you with worst-case scenarios.  Stop and have a ‘worst/best/most likely’ chat with yourself.
  • “Self, what’s the worst that could happen? I get fired. Hmmm, probably not likely. It’s not like I threw a chair through a window or anything. Just a silly mistake.”
  • “Self, what’s the best that could happen? Maybe no one even noticed that ridiculous thing I said… like it never happened.
  • “Ok self. What’s the most likely middle ground? Maybe one or two people caught the dumb thing I said, had a chuckle, moved on, and I’m the only one still thinking about it. Yeah, that’s probably it.”

• Get centered – Shift your attention to following your breathing as it moves in and out of your lungs and consciously slow it down for a minute or two.  This tricks your brain into focusing internally and letting go of the drama/insanity of life.

• Take back your power – When your mind is a little calmer, remind yourself that it’s your choice how the day moves forward.  You took 5 minutes to break the cycle of chaos you were in and can now return to work calmer and at choice.

Rebalance Your Day

Now that you’re in a better head space, it’s time to bring balance back to your day.  Turn your computer, messenger and phone back on and ask yourself where the day fell off track and how could you bring balance to that situation?

Perhaps you left the house for work late, which made you late to the office and your first meeting.  Balance it by finding a spot in your schedule where you can end something early and consciously go to your next meeting/task on time and in control.

Perhaps you’re overwhelmed and racing to do the job of 3 people.  Walking into a shitstorm is an instant rough day for anyone, so stop and prioritize to make it less stormy and shitty.  Balance your day by delegating some work and identifying what can wait till tomorrow.  You may even realize some if it isn’t worth ever doing.

A Bigger Picture is a Better Picture

When your day is not going well, it’s perfectly natural to be super-intensely-laser-focused on what’s wrong.  Unfortunately, if 100% of your mental energy is on something painful, that means 100% of your experience of life at that moment is painful.  The trick is to mentally take a step back and broaden your focus. 

Yes, it sucked that your boss just yelled at you, but lunch is right around the corner and then just a few hours of avoiding him till you’re out of there for the day.  Then you can enjoy your evening… perhaps look for a new job if your manager doesn’t deserve an awesome team member like you.

Yes, it felt crappy when your proposal didn’t get approved, but you have a fabulous weekend planned for yourself and are leaving early on Friday.  You will have 67 straight hours of fun, relaxation and not thinking a single minute about work.  Reworking the proposal can wait till Monday.  

If you don’t feel like you have anything amazing to look forward to, expand your focus to getting through the day as quickly as possible… SO YOU CAN GO PLAN SOME AMAZINGNESS FOR YOURSELF!  You’re a fucking rock star and deserve some rest and relaxation in your life.  Finish earning your paycheck for the day and go eat ice cream for dinner in the bathtub if you want!!!

Complete Your Master Plan and Finish Strong

Now that you’ve broken the cycle, rebalanced your day and expanded your focus, complete your plan and execute.  How do you want to move forward from this moment:  immediately, the rest of the day, your most important moments, and most importantly… the after-party.

• “Ok self, I’m going to immediately slow down, so I don’t make another silly mistake.”

• “This is clearly going to be ‘one of those days’ looking at the insane schedule, so I’m going to take it easy, survive the next 3 meetings AND…

• …leave my 3 o’clock early so I can prep for my presentation at 4. I’m really excited about it, so I’m going to set myself up to feel prepared and on time.”

• “The moment the presentation is over, I’m out!  I bet Jill, Ben, and Ashley could use a happy hour.  I’m going to text them right now.”

Sometimes life gets off track a little and you just need a moment to adjust.  Shut your brain off and take the moment.  You are worth it!  Ever meet someone who seems to never have a bad day?  Ever wonder what it would be like to be one of those people?  Now you can find out! Beating the bad day blues is a lot easier once you have a strategy.

Do you have a favorite method of salvaging a day gone wrong?  We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!