So, Your Day Started Out Like Crap – How To Recover From A Bad Day

Sometimes you can wake up in the morning in an ok mood and then something throws you off and turns your ok mood into a bad mood and therefore a bad day.

If you dwell on it, your day will get worse and you will wish you never got out of bed that day. But you can stop the negative momentum before it gets out of control.

If you don’t stop the momentum early enough it will pick up speed and you might as well wait until the next day to feel better. Strong momentum is hard to stop and trying to will frustrate you even more. It will lose momentum though after you sleep, but let’s see what we can do first before it gets to that point.

So, Your Day Started Out Like Crap… 

1. Don’t Dwell on The Bad Thing That Happened to You

Trust me dwelling on it, trying to fix it or figure it out will only make it worse. Let’s say something cuts you off on your way to work and then they have the nerve to honk at you. You know it’s their fault. Don’t get to work and talk to others about how you were right and what they did was wrong. You know you were right, that’s all that matters.

Talking about it will increase its momentum and will lead to a bad day. So, try your hardest to let it go. I know it’s difficult, but it can be done.

2. Try to See Something Good in What Just Happened

Try to figure out why what just happened might be a good thing. There is always something good in bad situations. Dig deep if you have to and find the positive.

For example, if you just got fired, it may be an excellent opportunity to start up your own business. Perhaps you’ve been thinking of doing it for a while and this was the thing you needed to kick you in the butt to do it.

3. Know That Tomorrow Can Only Get Better

If you have a bad day, the chances of you having anything close to the same thing the next day is slim to none. There is a really good chance tomorrow will be better. So even if you have to tell yourself that to get through the day then concentrate on that and not what is happening in the present.

When you sleep you stop momentum. You get the chance to start with a clean slate the next day. Just be sure not to focus on what happened the day before so it doesn’t come into your experience again. 

4. Do Something Fun or Relaxing at the End of a Bad Day

Just because your day started off like crap it doesn’t mean it needs to end badly. Take a relaxing bubble bath or do something fun that you haven’t done in a while, splurge a little. There is nothing wrong with treating yourself to some goodness at the end of the day just as you’d do with a best friend or partner. 

5. Use a Bad Day to Light a Fire Under You

Use whatever happened to you in your bad day as fuel for a project you want to do. Let’s say it happens at work, you might want to finally say, “I am looking for a new job”. This might be the fuel that lights the fire to something incredible that you want.

Sometimes we need something that we see as ‘bad’ to happen in order to make us want to create something better for ourselves. A bad day really can lead to something great. I used to be happy that I was unhappy at my job. It gave me so much drive to do something about it and change it. It is easier to see in hindsight how a bad day might actually be a great day and lead to something incredible.

~Meghan