Some days are just plain rough. Maybe you feel under-slept and grumpy from the get-go. And things only get worse from there. You spill your coffee, miss your bus or the traffic’s terrible. You’re late for your meeting, no time for lunch and you wish you’d spent the day in bed.
If you’re having a terrible day, stop for a minute, take a deep breath and take some time out to be kind to yourself. You can’t undo the bad things that have already happened, but you can turn around your bad day right now. Here are four simple things you can do to be kind to yourself and stop that rough day in its tracks.
1. Take some time out
When everything seems to be going wrong, you can stop that negative spiral by taking a break. Get out of the office if you can, go and do some deep breathing in the park or even look out of the window for a few minutes.
Practice some deep breathing and maybe have an herbal tea or a glass of water. Anything that makes you feel calmer and more in control.
2. Plan a treat
If your day is going from bad to worse, make a plan to do something luxurious and relaxing. A long bath with the good bath oil, get takeout for dinner, book a weekend away or set up dinner with your partner or a friend.
Give yourself something to look forward to!
3. Reset your self-talk
Take a moment to look at how you’re talking to yourself. Are you beating yourself up? Do the words ‘you always’ or ‘you never’ crop up in your self-talk? Or maybe ‘you’re no good’, or ‘why can’t you’?
Reset your Inner Critic to your Inner Champion and turn that self-talk around. Would you talk to a friend like that? No way! Then be kind to yourself. Everyone has bad days, you need nurturing, not beating up!
4. Celebrate the small wins
Sometimes it can feel like an achievement to get through the day at all! If you’re having a bad day, write down all your wins, big and small.
If you took the time to eat lunch, made it to the gym or yoga class, fed your family, and walked the dog you are on a winning streak! Make it fun and pat yourself on the back for all the checks on your list. Make it even more fun by writing down the bad things that didn’t happen. You didn’t spill coffee on your boss; you didn’t miss the bus, you didn’t forget to pick up the kids.
Celebrate just getting through!
