Turn Around a Bad Day at Work
Bad days happen to the best of us. Those are the days when you just wake up in a really bad mood, when something (or nothing) has made you angry, sad, frustrated, disappointed, or whatever. You still have to get up and go to work, but before you even get there, you’re already seething inside. You try to do your job, but somehow all the angry, dissatisfied clients have conspired to call you and complain on the same day - though you have no idea how they coordinated that little feat. Everything your co-workers say to you sounds incredibly stupid. Everyone seems to be out to annoy you. Not much fun, huh? Luckily, you can do something about it.
Steps
Accept your bad mood. Being in a bad mood is not that bad! Being in a bad mood while trying to force yourself to cheer up is much, much worse. Fighting a bad mood only prolongs it, so if you’re mad, be mad. If you’re sad, be sad. This does not give you license to be rude and unpleasant to innocent bystanders, it just means that you need to recognize and accept your bad mood in order to be able to do something about it.
Tell others. You can try to keep your bad mood a secret, and put on your happy mask. Your co-workers will notice, and they will wonder what they have done to tick you off. The best thing to do is to tell the people you work closely with that you are not having a good day. Simply tell them, "Listen, I’m in a really sour mood today. I’m not sure why, but it’s nothing you've done. If I do bite your head off, I'm apologizing in advance."
Look inside first. The truly successful people are not necessarily the smartest ones, but the ones with the best emotional skills, that rely on being able to recognize and to deal with one's own emotions. We tend to think that a bad mood is always caused by something or someone else (like trying to deal with a difficult boss). A bad mood can't necessarily be connected to an obvious, external factor. Perhaps you just slept poorly, are coming down with the flu, or are just having a bad day. Do not try to justify a bad mood. Instead, try to look inside yourself first, in order to try to ascertain a possible precursor to your emotional state.
Remember the good stuff. When you’re in a foul mood, everything is bad. But the good things you appreciated yesterday, when you weren’t as annoyed, are probably still there - you’re just not seeing them. Spend a few moments thinking of at least one or two things that aren’t all bad (something you look forward to, a person you like at work, something nice that happened recently) and be thankful for that.
Let it pass.. You’ve been in a bad mood before. It passed. So will this one. It’s no big deal. If you can't shake the mood, simply wait it out....
Take some quiet time. To prevent yourself from doing or saying something that you might regret later, it may be a good idea to withdraw a little if you can. Take a little walk during your lunch break. Sit and work someplace quiet. Take a long bathroom break. Consider going home early, or taking the day off.
Start your day over. You don't have to wait until tomorrow to start your day over. Do it now. Leave your desk, work place, where ever you happen to be - leave - decide to start over, as if you went to bed and slept on it. Now go back to work with a fresh attitude. This really works.
Leverage Your Next Good Mood. Once the bad mood does wear off, and you start feeling good, try to figure out what generated this change for you: was it a thought? a song? a friend? an event? When the next "red zone" comes, you will have developed an array of personalized positives to be used to pull yourself out.
Tips
If you find yourself having one bad day after another, you may need to do something more. Your job might be bringing you down; you may be in danger of suffering from stress. You may even be dealing with depression. If you think this may be happening, do something, and talk to someone.
As a preventative measure, do something so that a day starts well. Get a coffee, or some juice, and sit with a friend for 15 minutes. Or, if possible, start the day with a nice walk outside, or some sort of physical workout. A good start to a day may help you to glide more easily over any bumps that come up later.
Get physical! Go to the bathroom and jump up and down (when no one else can hear), breathe very deeply, take a quick walk at lunch time (or to the gym for the kickboxing class). Get that workout. Kickstarting endorphins is a natural way to a better mood.
Make sure that you are not living on sugar/candy bars. Quickly roller-coastering blood sugar levels can be unpleasant.
There are some who, whether they admit it, or realize it, or not, enjoy being in a bad mood, and will resist all efforts to be cheered. If this is the case, there is not much that can be done, until you admit it to yourself.
Find a great song, and let it take your mind off of your present state.
Laughter is priceless. Find a funny video, e-mail five friends, asking for their best joke, watch little kids play (and watch them laugh!)
Sometimes, you have to "fake it 'til you make it." Saying, "This is a TERRIFIC day" will sometimes help you to, at least, see the possibility that it could be. THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS!
Just smile. Yeah, you may not feel like smiling, but just forcing yourself to smile may send a signal to your brain that things aren't so bad. You may be surprised to feel your mood lighten a bit, in as little as 10 minutes (or less)!
Warnings
Don't make huge decisions when you're in a bad mood - financial ones, emotional ones, etc. Let the negative state pass, before you choose poorly.
Watch out for blaming other people for things that you, in fact, may be guilty of. If someone's loud telephone conversation annoys you completely, check out your own conversations before telling that other person.
This is not the day to "finally" let someone know what you think about him/her. This is the day to write those things down, and to get them out, but not to try to act on them, until your mood brightens.
Bad mood days can be like a downward spiral. Resolve within yourself that tomorrow will be better, and do whatever it takes to make it so.
If there seems to be a long string of bad days at work, and depression is a part of your life, check to make sure that medications are still working properly.
Steps
Accept your bad mood. Being in a bad mood is not that bad! Being in a bad mood while trying to force yourself to cheer up is much, much worse. Fighting a bad mood only prolongs it, so if you’re mad, be mad. If you’re sad, be sad. This does not give you license to be rude and unpleasant to innocent bystanders, it just means that you need to recognize and accept your bad mood in order to be able to do something about it.
Tell others. You can try to keep your bad mood a secret, and put on your happy mask. Your co-workers will notice, and they will wonder what they have done to tick you off. The best thing to do is to tell the people you work closely with that you are not having a good day. Simply tell them, "Listen, I’m in a really sour mood today. I’m not sure why, but it’s nothing you've done. If I do bite your head off, I'm apologizing in advance."
Look inside first. The truly successful people are not necessarily the smartest ones, but the ones with the best emotional skills, that rely on being able to recognize and to deal with one's own emotions. We tend to think that a bad mood is always caused by something or someone else (like trying to deal with a difficult boss). A bad mood can't necessarily be connected to an obvious, external factor. Perhaps you just slept poorly, are coming down with the flu, or are just having a bad day. Do not try to justify a bad mood. Instead, try to look inside yourself first, in order to try to ascertain a possible precursor to your emotional state.
Remember the good stuff. When you’re in a foul mood, everything is bad. But the good things you appreciated yesterday, when you weren’t as annoyed, are probably still there - you’re just not seeing them. Spend a few moments thinking of at least one or two things that aren’t all bad (something you look forward to, a person you like at work, something nice that happened recently) and be thankful for that.
Let it pass.. You’ve been in a bad mood before. It passed. So will this one. It’s no big deal. If you can't shake the mood, simply wait it out....
Take some quiet time. To prevent yourself from doing or saying something that you might regret later, it may be a good idea to withdraw a little if you can. Take a little walk during your lunch break. Sit and work someplace quiet. Take a long bathroom break. Consider going home early, or taking the day off.
Start your day over. You don't have to wait until tomorrow to start your day over. Do it now. Leave your desk, work place, where ever you happen to be - leave - decide to start over, as if you went to bed and slept on it. Now go back to work with a fresh attitude. This really works.
Leverage Your Next Good Mood. Once the bad mood does wear off, and you start feeling good, try to figure out what generated this change for you: was it a thought? a song? a friend? an event? When the next "red zone" comes, you will have developed an array of personalized positives to be used to pull yourself out.
Tips
If you find yourself having one bad day after another, you may need to do something more. Your job might be bringing you down; you may be in danger of suffering from stress. You may even be dealing with depression. If you think this may be happening, do something, and talk to someone.
As a preventative measure, do something so that a day starts well. Get a coffee, or some juice, and sit with a friend for 15 minutes. Or, if possible, start the day with a nice walk outside, or some sort of physical workout. A good start to a day may help you to glide more easily over any bumps that come up later.
Get physical! Go to the bathroom and jump up and down (when no one else can hear), breathe very deeply, take a quick walk at lunch time (or to the gym for the kickboxing class). Get that workout. Kickstarting endorphins is a natural way to a better mood.
Make sure that you are not living on sugar/candy bars. Quickly roller-coastering blood sugar levels can be unpleasant.
There are some who, whether they admit it, or realize it, or not, enjoy being in a bad mood, and will resist all efforts to be cheered. If this is the case, there is not much that can be done, until you admit it to yourself.
Find a great song, and let it take your mind off of your present state.
Laughter is priceless. Find a funny video, e-mail five friends, asking for their best joke, watch little kids play (and watch them laugh!)
Sometimes, you have to "fake it 'til you make it." Saying, "This is a TERRIFIC day" will sometimes help you to, at least, see the possibility that it could be. THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS!
Just smile. Yeah, you may not feel like smiling, but just forcing yourself to smile may send a signal to your brain that things aren't so bad. You may be surprised to feel your mood lighten a bit, in as little as 10 minutes (or less)!
Warnings
Don't make huge decisions when you're in a bad mood - financial ones, emotional ones, etc. Let the negative state pass, before you choose poorly.
Watch out for blaming other people for things that you, in fact, may be guilty of. If someone's loud telephone conversation annoys you completely, check out your own conversations before telling that other person.
This is not the day to "finally" let someone know what you think about him/her. This is the day to write those things down, and to get them out, but not to try to act on them, until your mood brightens.
Bad mood days can be like a downward spiral. Resolve within yourself that tomorrow will be better, and do whatever it takes to make it so.
If there seems to be a long string of bad days at work, and depression is a part of your life, check to make sure that medications are still working properly.