Do you ever have those days where everything seems awful and all you want to do is cry, drop to the floor, roll around, bang your fists, and wail? While that may seem like a good idea at the time, there are much better ways to make yourself feel better.

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1. Smile More

Smiling has been proven to brighten mood. This can be seen in a study conducted by Strack et. al. in 1988. A group of participants was asked to hold a pencil between their teeth, forcing a smile, and another group was asked to hold the pencil between their lips, forcing a frown. Both groups were asked to rate a cartoon on its degree of humor and the smiling group actually found the cartoon much funnier. Other studies have proven that smiling can release endorphins and relieve stress.

So try to smile but if you are so angry that you can't even contemplate the idea of turning up the corners of your mouth, then bite a pencil. You will be forced to smile and you will be able to take your anger out on the pencil.

2. Exercise

Getting in a good workout can reduce anxiety levels, release endorphins, and stabilize mood. Next time you are upset or feeling paralyzed by your workload, take a break and hit the gym. You'll likely be much more calm and productive when you get back. If a plain workout just isn't enough, invest in a punching bag.

3. Rant

Make sure you find friends who can handle listening to you complain for hours on end. Venting about your problems to friends can not only make you feel better, but it might also help you solve your problems. Sometimes your friends can offer suggestions that you never even thought of.

If you don't want to bother your friends, then write it down. Grab a piece of paper or open a document on your computer and write until you have exhausted all complaints. Once you finish, reread everything you have written. After seeing everything on paper, you will probably realize that you didn't have that many problems after all and everything will seem a lot more manageable.

4. Make a To-Do List

Write down everything you need to do and start getting things done. Making a to-do list will help you stay organized and the act of checking something off will make you feel accomplished and make it easier to face the rest of the tasks on your list.

Separate tasks into a long-term list and a short-term list . Put big projects and overall goals on your long-term list and smaller tasks on your short-term list. For example, if you need to finish reading a book for a class, put "finish book" on your long-term list and set smaller goals on your short term list like "read chapters one and two." The tasks you include on your short-term list should be achievable in a day or a week so that you can check things off to give yourself that feeling of accomplishment.

If none of these healthy solutions are working for you, then remember: stressed spelled backwards is desserts. So grab a pint of ice cream and cry about your problems.