How to Turn Around a Bad Day

When you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, or have it a rough patch, these 10 tips can help you feel better.

When you’re having a bad moment or day (or even a long series of bad days), it can feel like things will never get better. You may intellectually understand that change will eventually come, but that doesn’t lessen the load in the moment.

At those difficult times, it’s tempting to beat yourself up, lash out at others, or simply give up. To avoid these less-than-desirable reactions, it can be helpful to have a few healthy responses at the ready.

Want to know how to turn around a bad day? Here are 10 tools that can help you feel better. Keep them in your back pocket to pull out whenever you need to turn around a negative downward spiral.

Photo by Jim Wilson on Unsplash

*Note: Coaching is not a substitute for professional mental health care or medical care. This advice is not meant to take the place of any form of therapy. If you’re depressed or having thoughts of self-harm, please seek help from a licensed therapist right away.

1. Acceptance

When you find yourself down — or angry, frustrated, overwhelmed — it can be really useful to simply be with the feeling. This is about coexisting, not criticizing. Rather than judging it, just observe it. Recognize that you are a person having a thought or feeling, nothing more.

When you feel the urge to judge the thought or feeling as good or bad, lovingly nudge yourself back into the role of unbiased observer.

If you have the energy, you can also get curious about the thought or feeling. When do you first remember feeling or thinking this? What made you feel or think this? What is the thought or feeling wanting you to know? Who benefits from you thinking or feeling this way?

If that line of questioning feels energetically draining or unsafe, then stop and simply return to the goal of presence without judgment.

2. Mindfulness

When it comes to “mindfulness,” meditation gets most of the attention. It’s a wonderful practice, but is also very misunderstood. Too often, we think we can only meditate if we have 10 minutes to an hour to dedicate to sitting in silence.