Taking Back a Bad Day: Do Over’s Welcome!
Starting off the day on the wrong foot is a challenging and often frustrating inevitability for all of us. Sometimes, things just don’t go right, causing a snowball effect in our lives that builds until it seems insurmountable. Taking back the day can be difficult when the factors that lead up to the frustration are out of our control, leading to a domino effect of sour outcomes and poor mental wellness.
We often say “tomorrow is a new day” when faced with these kinds of days and allow ourselves to stew in the discomfort for much longer than we need to. Like all things pertaining to mental well-being, orienting ourselves in the direction of stability is as much about attitude and good practices as it is about the outside factors that affect us.
Discussion and Distance
Good practices for turning around a “bad day” can be as simple as reaching out to someone who understands.
A great way to get a handle on a big problem is to try to explain it to someone else. This practice often leads to us breaking down our issue into smaller, more easily compartmentalized chunks so that someone can understand the full scope of our issue from an outside perspective. This distance from the problem can make us feel less “in the weeds” and help us to see stepping stones of solutions rather than a gargantuan challenge. Tackling little problems one at a time often feels much more manageable than trying to contend with a big issue all at once.
People in similar situations often face similar challenges. We can never know when being honest about our personal struggles will inspire someone else to find a solution of their own. In this way, talking things out with a peer can provide a continuous cycle of support just by having a simple discussion!
Looking Ahead
There are certain times of year that feel like a continuous bad day. Many people feel that, around the holidays, personal and professional stressors start to blend together into one need after another. This constant state of being on our toes can feel really overwhelming if we don’t have any practices in place to support our mental wellness.
Taking a look at the calendar in advance and making a note of these “high mental traffic” times can be a great way to set ourselves up for success. Being realistic with ourselves about how much time we have in a day can prevent us from overcommitting ourselves. The days are not always equal, however, and being able to guesstimate the time a task will take during a distracted season can save our mind and spirit from overestimation and disappointment.
Self Patience is Self Love
An issue that affects most adults in the working world today is not letting ourselves off the hook. We have very little patience for ourselves and this can often manifest into being unforgiving when mistakes are made or punishing ourselves for being overwhelmed.
Rochelle Perper, Ph. D. outlines that we talk a lot about how we are living in “unprecedented times' ' but don't give ourselves the room for alternate solutions. We often try to use staunch tactics to govern ourselves and “hold ourselves and others to unrealistic standards, beat ourselves up for not doing it well enough, criticize ourselves for lagging behind too long, and expect not to feel natural, human emotions”. She goes on to explain that this negative, unforgiving self talk does nothing for conflict resolution and only aids in our feeling of helplessness.
When we are having a bad day, we need encouragement and positivity in order to turn these feelings into positive growth. We can tell ourselves that the day is split up into pieces of productivity, and having a challenging morning does not need to ruin our afternoon. Taking a moment to correct in the direction of wellness is a powerful tool that we are all capable of employing.
Be Well
While the factors that contribute to us having a hard time are not always in our control, our ability to reach out to others, do a little planning and talk to ourselves empathetically can not be taken away.
Bad days will come and go, but the key to having more good days than bad can lie in how we communicate, both with ourselves and others, in order to support the wellness that we all need!
Ready to connect with a Peer? We’re here to support you!
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