How To Break Out of A Sh***y Day

Posted on January 14, 2011 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Lifehacks,Techniques

Fridays are tip days at SimpleProductivity blog.

Photo by the Italian voice

We all have them. Days that suck the life out of you, run you over like a steamroller and then back over you for good measure. Days when staying in bed would have been a better option. Days when you are hanging on, just hoping you come out on the other side with only minor injuries.

So what’s a person to do when one of these days arrive?

Consult your bag of tricks.

I put my bag of tricks together one bright spring day when I was feeling good. I look on it as a toolbox of things I can do to re-center myself and shore up to face the storm. It’s a metaphorical bag; it exists only in list form on a piece of paper I keep in my wallet. (Right next to my health insurance card. Because sometimes the bad days call for that one as well).

It’s never too late to start one of these lists, but it’s easier to do when you’re not in the middle of a maelstrom. Just write down all the things you can do to make yourself feel better in the midst of a really bad day.

Here is my list:

Listen to the Happy Play List (songs that make my soul shout ‘wowza’)
Take a long, hot shower
Sit in the gazebo and listen to the birds
Take a nap
Eat good chocolate
Smell lavendar
Read Pride and Prejudice
Cuddle with the felines
Walk on the seashore
Buy a funky new nail polish
Drum
Call someone in my circle of support
Read CAL
Sit in a sunspot on the floor with the dog
Bake cookies
Write
Rake leaves (in season, of course)

If you don’t have one of these lists, I encourage you to take five minutes and make one. I’ve never had to do more than four things on this list before a bad day turns around.

Photo by the Italian voice