You wake up late, you forgot to do your homework for your next class, your roommate borrows your shirt and returns it ruined--or, if you’re me, you crack your computer screen, have a critique go terribly wrong, and have a to-do list that is two-pages deep. All these things and countless others are small instances of frustration on their own, but when two or more happen within a short amount of time we label it as a bad day.
We all have them--our day starts out with one or two things going wrong and soon it seems like our whole world is collapsing on top of us. Things that normally we wouldn’t think twice about suddenly become huge, life-altering moments of despair and we spend the rest of the day anticipating the next bad thing that’s going to happen, so we can add it to our running mental list of why this is the “absolute worst day ever.”
Even the most put-together, calm, cool, collected people in my life have bad days from time to time, and while you might feel like you average about three times as many bad days as your friends, I assure they happen equally and regularly to everyone around you. Whenever we have these days (and if you haven’t had one recently, trust me, it’s coming!) here are some good ways to deal with them, and maybe even turn your “bad” day around!
1. Stop, slow, down, and process what is making your day "bad."
It might actually be good to talk to someone about what's making your day so bad. Sometimes even just saying things out loud makes us realize how things that we build up in our head to be huge deals, are in reality, not that detrimental to our lives.
2. Go to your agenda and make a plan of action.
Whenever I feel like things are spiraling out of control, it helps me to check in my planner, and remind myself of what I do have control over. I might have missed the assignment due today, but I for sure can underline and highlight the assignment due next week, so there's no chance of me missing it again.
3. Go for a run
It's scientifically proven that running releases endorphins, which put you in a good mood. It's also a great way to relieve any stress and a productive way to take a break.
4. Drink tea
Just like running, drinking tea is a good way to calm you down/ help manage some of the stress you might be feeling from your bad day.
5. Call your mom
Moms make everything better, end of story.
6. Remember everything that is going right in your life.
It's easy to get so caught up with everything that's going wrong with our day and forget everything that is going right for us.
7. Take a break from social media
Sometimes when we're having a bad day, the last thing we want to see if everyone else having a good day. Remember that everyone only puts the highlights of their life on social media, so don't compare what your one bad day looks like to their really good day.
8. Unless your bad day involves your phone/computer being broken.
Don't panic, even though it might seem like the end of the world. With so much of our society today revolving around us being in constant communication with our friends, our professors, our jobs, we might feel lost without the familiar rectangle shape in our hands 24/7. Take this time as a chance to get to know your friends face-to-face instead of over texting or Instagram, or maybe meet with a professor in person instead of shooting them an email. Face-to-face interaction tends to make more of an impact, so this might even be good thing to be off the grid for a little bit, in the long run.
10. Listen to "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter
Let this song be the anthem to your day.
11. Just embrace it.
Yeah, you're having a bad day, just own up to it. Chances are you'll be able to laugh about everything that went wrong in your day in a week or less.
12. Remember that you're having a bad day, not a bad life.
