Sometimes you’re just having a crappy day. There’s no exact way to solve a bad day or simply make everything sunshine and rainbows, but there are a few ways to make a bad day a little less bad. Honestly, you have nothing to lose with these tips. The worst that’ll happen from trying these bad day fixes is that you smell nice and get well-rested.
You can’t always make a bad day better, but you can definitely avoid making it worse. It’s kind of like if you’re trapped in the middle of an ocean with no one around and no land as far as your eyes can see. You can’t really rescue yourself but you can stay afloat and not sink further into the water. I suck at metaphors but you get what I mean, right? Anyway, here are some ways to fix a bad day…or at least prevent it from getting worse.
1. Eat a food you love.
Buy that ice cream flavor that you love or order lunch from your favorite Thai place. Food is wonderful and eating your favorite foods will most likely not fix a bad day, but at least you’ll have a moment of brightness A.K.A your favorite snack.
2. Avoid Instagram and Snapchat stories.
Everyone says this and everyone is totally right. They’ll most likely just lead to FOMO or making you feel worse because you’re looking at everyone’s little highlight reel. Like, do you think seeing Kayla’s new iPhone and Joe with all of his friends at a party will make you feel any better? Try a different app instead or read a book.
3. Listen to upbeat songs.
Forget the happy rainbow songs and slow sad ones. Is it just me or does listening to songs about love and happiness when you’re having a bad day just make you want to scream? My upbeat breakup song playlist is one of my favorite bad day playlists even though I’m never in the midst of an angsty breakup, I just love jamming and shouting the words along to heartbroken or angry artists, ya feel me?
4. Take a shower.
Disclaimer: by shower I don’t mean the “stand in the shower being pelted with water while thinking about everything you have done wrong in your entire life dating back to first grade” kind of shower. That might only exacerbate your bad day and lead to a personal pity party. I’m talking about a nice, calming warm shower. Play music or sing in the shower or shower in relaxing silence. There’s something about warm water and soap that smells like that makes a bad day a little bit nicer. If nothing else, you’ll be fresh and clean.
5. Pinpoint why exactly your day is so bad.
Trying to reason and trace back to the origins of my bad day usually gives me some clarity. Most of the time my day is bad and I’m in a gloomy mood because of little things that have since become irrelevant. I usually then feel more motivated to turn my day around, because why let little things bog me down? If the cause of your bad day is that spilled coffee on your shirt and got to class a little bit late, don’t let it ruin your entire day. Those things happened and ~life goes on~ and so will you.
6. Fix what you can.
If the cause of your bad day is an argument with your boyfriend or a bad grade, take action instead of dwelling under a storm cloud. Talk to your boyfriend. Do some extra credit or jump start your next assignment to do better next time. Taking action will help you move forward instead of running in place on a crappy day. If there’s nothing you can really fix, try to get your shit together in a different aspect of your life. Being productive could help you turn your day around.
7. Don’t go out of your way to stay in a bad mood.
When you’re in a bad mood do you ever just want to throw up a middle finger to the world and everyone in it while avoiding anything that could potentially cheer you up? I don’t know if this is just me but sometimes I’ll be in a bad mood and when someone tries to cheer me up or if something makes me feel a little bit better, I’ll sort of be like “WAIT. I’m supposed to be grumpy. I’m having a bad day. If I smile the world has won” and make it really difficult to escape the bad mood while grasping onto flawed logic. What the hell is the world “winning”? I honestly don’t know but sometimes it’s easy to want to be in a bad mood just to be in a bad mood. Maybe I’m just stubborn.
If you, too, do this, realize what you’re doing and try not to. If someone’s trying to cheer you up, instead of getting annoyed, realize that this person cares enough about you to try to make you feel better even if it’s not working. If the show your watching is funny, laugh and if you see a cute puppy, smile. Don’t go out of your way to maintain a bad day. This tip isn’t an easy one to follow and you probably won’t be in a bad mood and think, “Gee! Remember that article I read online once? I’m going to fix my bad mood! WOW!” but if you happen to be having a bad day right now, give this a shot.
8. Go to sleep.
This my no-fail method to fixing a bad day. I mean, I guess it’s kind of avoiding a bad day instead of trying to fix it but hey, there’s nothing wrong with giving up and taking a nap. Most things don’t seem as bad in the morning and when you wake up, your bad day will be over and you can start with a fresh, clean day. Plus, sleep is just a wonderful thing, it couldn’t hurt.
What is one of your favorite ways to fix a bad day?
