1. Take 5 minutes and just have a terrible, no good, awful, bad day.
In LOST--the greatest show of all time--Jack has a unique way of dealing with fear. He allows himself five seconds of being terrified. He counts to five, letting the fear consume him as he does. But when he gets to five, he doesn't allow himself the privilege of being afraid anymore.
Wallow. Pity yourself. Think of all the reasons you're having a bad day and how you'll probably never have a good day again. Throw the biggest pity part of the year. But when your five minutes is up, stop it.
2. Change your perspective, literally.
Change locations. If you can't move to a new location, move to a different spot in the same room you're in. If that's not an option, take a quick walk. If you're stuck at a desk, rearrange the things on your desk to give yourself a clean space. Just do something that will make your view different for at least a few minutes.
3. Make a list of 5 happy things.
This can be a mental list, but I like to physically write down a list of happy things. It doesn't have to be serious; no one else is going to see this. Just list the first five happy things that pop into your mind.
4. Have a process that you associate with being happy and calm.
Drink a cup of coffee or tea. If you're at home, paint your nails or put of comfy slippers. Light a candle. Take five minutes to do something small that makes you happy but doesn't interfere with the rest of your day.
Since some bad days tend to strike while I'm working, I always have a mug and teabag in my purse. It takes less than two minutes to fix a cup of tea, and then I can be back at my desk doing something that makes me happy without disrupting my work.
5. Keep on going with your day.
The worst thing to do when you're having a bad day is to simply write off the rest of your day. It's not time for yoga pants and wine yet; the day can still be salvaged. Treat it like a new day and get stuff done. It's hard to have a bad day when you're too busy being a productivity beast.
And when all else fails. . .there's always the humor section on pinterest.
What do you do to turn a bad day around?
