Today we’re going to talk about how to turn a day that’s not going so well into a better day. At some point everybody has a day where everything just seems to go sideways. We’ve all been there. I’m going to give you a framework that you can use to salvage the rest of your day and make it the best that it can be. We’re going to use a couple of mental tools commonly associated with mindfulness and stoicism to get you back on track or if necessary change your course.
Before I get into specifics, I want to emphasize that this is not something that you’re going to use on a day where you get hit with personal tragedy or something traumatic happens at work. This is something for what I would consider what people are going through on a normal day. Okay, here are the steps.
- First, you’re going to stop and notice. You’re going to step outside the action of what’s going on and become fully aware of being out of balance and sort of the mood that you’re in.
- Next you’re going to decide from that point of reference that you have where you stopped and noticed what your next best step is. What’s the next best thing you’re going to do to finish the rest of your day strong.
- Next you’re going to act. You’re going to take whatever step you chose and you’re going to work on that immediately. You don’t hesitate at all here. You just start in acting. Before you do that, however, before you jump into that, you’re going to set a timer on your phone or your watch to go off in 1 hour. This is a very important step. You’re going to move on with your your plan and execute it immediately.
- Now, you’re going to revisit this when your timer goes off. You’re going to go back to that state that you had before where you stopped and noticed and you’re going to you’re going to notice if there’s any change in your mood. Have you Has your mood improved? Have things had better?
- Finally, you’re going to finish your day strong knowing you made the right effort. At the end of your day, before you go to bed, you’re going to recap what happened. You’re going to look at what went well, what didn’t go well, what you’re going to do tomorrow.
So, first step. When I say I want you to notice what’s happening, I don’t mean that I want you to analyze what’s going on. I want you to just stop and look primarily at your mood. Is there a mood? Is there something happening? Is there some sort of action that’s going on that’s that’s particularly noticeable? Just notice it. Quit all of your entire in internal dialogue and simply notice. What you’re going to find is that once you notice things, it’s it’s almost counterintuitive, that mood will stop. You will go into what is almost a moodless state. And this is where you want to be because from here you can make the best decisions on how to turn the rest of your day around.
So, from that moodless to set from that moodless state, I want you to decide dispassionately exactly what your next best action is. So, do it immediately without hesitation. Your instinct will be at its purest in these first few moments. Now, whatever you decide, do it immediately. Again, don’t hesitate. Set a timer on your phone or watch to go off in 1 hour and then get on with it.
Here’s an important note. When you make this next best action, you generally have two possibilities. Number one, you can continue along the same track that you were going before, or you can change course. That’s option two. If you decide to continue on that original path, make sure that you alter something in your mood, in your outlook, in your expectation. Otherwise, you’re you’re probably in danger of falling back into what you did. You just noticed it and then it goes away and you wasted a moment.
So, now when your timer goes off, stop yourself again and do the same thing that you did before. Again, don’t think. Notice. Make a note of what’s changed since you corrected course if anything.
Now, finish your day strong and don’t think about it anymore.
To finish your day, before you go to bed, make a journal entry as to what went right, what went wrong, and how you corrected it if you did, and what you’ll do tomorrow. Uh one final note. Uh the most challenging part of this is the first step. Uh stopping and noticing are often the last things we’re interested in doing when we’re in the middle of a uh you know, a day that’s gone sideways on us. It takes practice and reinforcement. What can make this behavior stick and become part of your personal arsenal is the evening recap. It’s evidence to yourself that you use this technique by choice and it will make it easier to remember in a stressful situation.
What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know how your bad how you turn a bad day around. If you have other methods of improving a tough day that you like me to hear it like me to cover or hear about, then let me know also in the comments. Thanks a lot and until next time.