9 simple ideas to turn your incredibly sucky, bad day around

It was early in the morning, they’re showing Despicable Me on Disney channel. Pharrell Williams was coolly singing on the background, “I’m having a bad, bad day.” And I just whipped my head towards my brother with the most outraged look, waving vigorously at the TV, “That is ridiculous! No one sounds that cool when they’re having a bad, bad day! NO ONE.”

I said this passionately because I do have a few personal experiences on my belt.

See, I was never sleek or cool or smooth when I’m having a bad, bad day. I’m cranky, my RBF is on Downright-Scary Mode, and I’m storming past every single thing I bumped into. Yes, every-freakin-thing. I even threw my Totoro plushie across the room. (I later cooed him and said I was sorry, though.)

This you?

Welcome to the club, we’ve got jackets.

9 Simple Ideas to Turn Your Bad Day Around | Personal Growth, Self-improvement, Happiness, Mental Health, Happy Life, Lifestyle, Inspiration

Bad days often happen quite spontaneously. You wake up 1% cranky. You’re running late and some lady is taking her sweet time walking in front of you and you can’t walk past her. Now you’re 75% cranky.

Or maybe you wake up 1% unmotivated. Or 1% sad. Or 1% pathetic. My point is, things can add up to that one percent and suddenly it reaches the maximum point.

We wish we could go back down to one percent. But I learned that, once we hop into that bad mood, we ride that downhill path with our foot pressing hard on the gas pedal.

And that’s the thing with bad days: when we have it, we somehow believe it’s gonna be this awful for the entire day. Like the entire twenty-four hours. But folks, as someone who deals with bad day-ness like a lady dragon on PMS, I am telling you:

Bad days can still be turned around.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE DEALING WITH A CASE OF BAD DAY-NESS

1) Do yoga

So my aunt has been doing the “Legs Up the Wall” pose to relieve her tired legs ever since I can remember. But she has NO IDEA it’s a yoga pose. Even I didn’t know until recently! I got this from her and ever since entering college, I do it on nights when I’m completely exhausted. It also works for restarting your day yo! But any kind of yoga pose you want to try is good too. The point is it will help release the tension in your muscles and make you more relaxed.

2) Try meditation

There was this one time when I was in a seriously bad mood and I listened to the 10-minute guided meditation on the Headspace app, and I kid you not, tears fell from my eyes. Like literal tears. Now, I wasn’t exactly bawling. When I think about it now, it was just another way of releasing the negative emotions. I guess I also cried because it honestly felt relieving.

3) Be with nature

Sometimes there’s nothing more effective than to hang out with Mother Nature, in whatever way you can do so. Maybe you can have a short stroll in the park or a walk by the beach. Even just sitting in your backyard and listening to birds chirping is calming. So that when you go back to the drawing board, you have renewed energy.

4) List down what made you smile today

I wouldn’t say that I am a Type A person but I do have some tendencies. And writing things down certainly helps me get a better grasp on things. Making lists is one way you can apply writing into self-care. Also, just the process of recapping your day so far and looking at what has happened in a more positive light? That’s fun! And it’s gonna work wonders to your well-being yo!

5) Blast your motivational playlist on the speakers

Back when I was in my punk phase, I like to write the phrase “No Music No Life” in a rock-and-rolly kinda font with skulls and crosses all over my notebooks. (Yes, I was that extra in my punk phase.) But it’s true isn’t it? Science has proven how helpful music can be for our well-being. I find playing Florence + The Machine’s “Dog Days are Over” or Hall and Oats’s “You Make My Dreams Come True” instantly lifts my mood and puts me into awkward dancing mode.

6) Read your manifesto

A manifesto is a great tool to keep yourself motivated. I found this really awesome manifesto through Brain Pickings and, ohmygoshyouguys, it is just incredibly well-written and packed with so much motivational power!

7) Make someone laugh

You’re probably wondering why you need to make someone laugh in order to turn your bad day around. Well, there’s this saying that goes: we all do better when we all do better. Simply put, kindness has a two-way effect. It affects the people around us who are the receiver of said kindness. But it also affects us emotionally and mentally. Because doesn’t it feel good when you help someone without expecting anything in return?

Also read: 24 Simple Good Deeds You Can Do Right Now

8) Literally restart your day

I saw this movie before where the girl literally shouted, “Do over!” and a montage of them restarting their day ensued. I used to think it was cute and ineffective. But now I know that literally starting over your day doesn’t necessarily mean rewinding. Nor does it mean waking up like it’s 8 AM and doing your entire morning routine all over again. It’s your attitude that you’re gonna want to start over.

9) Change your outfit

There are weekends when I feel pathetic and useless. Wearing my pajamas, a tornado-wrecked bird’s nest for hair, and melting on my bed for two days. And I’d think, no. This is not how this weekend would go. So I’d change from my pajamas, wear a bra, comb my hair and get out of the bed to work on what needs to be worked on. It always works.

What do you do to turn a bad day around? Share your wisdom with us in the comments below!

xx Kate

PS: Check out how I deal with feeling stuck with life

Photo from Ivory Mix

Comments

I’ve always wanted to try meditation because ive heard such good benefits about it!

Kate says:

I try it occassionally but haven’t made it a regular thing. But yes, it can really help a lot and it has plenty of benefits! Thanks for stopping by, Ellie! 🙂

Kate says:

Thank you too for dropping by! 🙂

Rebeccah @ The Pixie Chronicles says:

Aaaaaah! This is such a timely post! No really, what it is about the end of the month that suddenly makes everything just feel like it’s slipping away between your fingers and you don’t even know what TIME IS anymore?? And I always think February is ten times worse because it’s so short 🙁 Seriously, how is it March already? I love these tips, I feel like I am constantly stressed out all.the.time. now, and I really need to find a few new ways to relax and not let a few bad things get me down. I especially like your last tip too, I ALWAYS feel better after I’ve combed my hair, even if no one is seeing me but my dogs and husband haha.

What a fantastic post full of great ideas! Music is def my pick me up when I’m having a bad day!

Melanie |www.frasersfunhouse.com

Loved this post it’s given me some great tips on how to make my day better, I’m the type of person who sees the negatives in every situation and it can instantly put me in a bad mood so I need tips like this! I keep saying I want to try Yoga but never have so next time I’m having a rubbish day I might try it. My favourite thing to do when I’m having a bad day is to listen to some of my favourite music (currently The Greatest Showman soundtrack on repeat) or watch a Disney film! I also tried to start doing the #WhatMakesMeHappy tag on Twitter at the start of the year to encourage me to be more positive but I kept forgetting, I need to start doing it again!

Jess xx

ignitedmoth says:

Great ideas! 😀 I need to try yoga/meditation sometime. I think because I’m constantly working on something (or multiple somethings at a time) that taking some time to just chill and de-stress would really be beneficial. Especially when having a bad day.
My usual go-to when I’m mad or really sad is to clean. Weird, I know, but something about re-organizing things and dusting and all that just really calms me down and gets my mind off things.
My dad was recently having one of these horrible days and then when he stopped to get some coffee at a drive-thru he was stunned to find out the guy who had been ahead of him had told the cashier to let him also pay for the person behind him’s order, so my dad wound up getting a free coffee, and just that simple little random act of kindness from a stranger turned his entire day around. 🙂

Kate says:

Thank you so much! And not weird at all! I’ve tried angry-cleaning a few times the past year and it makes me feel better all the time!
And oh my gosh that was such an amazing thing a strabger could do! But this definitely proves that a random act of kindness can make any day better. Thank you for sharing that!

Ms Via says:

Great post! Some really interesting ideas. It has been long time since I did “legs up the wall” though. I try to distract myself and think about things that made happy or I busy myself with my blog. It gives me immense happiness, keeps me busy and relaxed at the same time. 🙂
http://glossnglitters.com

Kate says:

Thank you so much Ms Via! And yes, surprisingly, keeping myself busy also helps me feel more relaxed and in control of things ☺

Love this post, you’ve put some great tips up 🙂
I’m not a yoga person but have always wanted to give it a go – cleaning with some of my favourite music on tends to be my go-to when I’m having a crap day, although it doesn’t work quite as well anymore now that my child requires me to clean up every damn day, haha!
Thanks for sharing, found this really helpful.

Jessica xo / jessinwonderland.com

Kate says:

Thank you so much Jess! I’m so glad you found this helpful. And yes! Cleaning can also be quite therapeutic when we’re having a sucky day.

Leave a Reply to Jessicα (@xJessBarker) Cancel reply


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.