Your bad day doesn’t have to *stay* bad.
Recently, I had a bad day. I mean, a truly terrible day.
While experiencing these negative emotions, it wasn’t easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Coming up with ways to survive a bad day can be challenging. But, I could pull myself out of these pessimistic feelings and start feeling better due to habits I had already cultivated.
No matter how extraordinary your life may be, it’s inevitable that you’ll deal with the occasional bad day.
To avoid being taken off guard when an unexpected bad day happens, planning how to deal with a bad day is an innovative and proactive way to ensure that you can deal with them.
If you struggle to know what to do on a bad day to feel better, this article is for you!
Keep reading if you want to learn about five ways to survive a bad day.
5 Simple Tips To Survive a Bad Day
Let Your Emotions Out
Like most humans, you likely feel the urge to keep your feelings in when you’re having a bad day. While it may make sense to be as stoic as possible when you’re going through something, holding your feelings in can be counterproductive.
By keeping your feelings in, you could be prolonging how long you experience unwanted emotions.
Instead of keeping everything inside, consider letting your emotions out as a way to survive a bad day. There are several ways to release your feelings, including writing, physical movement, and verbal expression.
The key is not to keep your feelings bottled up and start the healing process by letting your thoughts and emotions out.
Survive a Bad Day Cheat Sheet: Let Your Emotions Out
- Write in a journal.
- Cry.
- Scream into a pillow.
- Punch a pillow or punching bag.
- Go for a walk or run outside to think (and cry if necessary).
- Record an audio journal entry if you prefer not to write.
Talk to Someone
When you’re feeling down, you may shut down and not share how you’re feeling with others. To survive a bad day, consider talking to someone about what you’re going through.
Consider reaching out to a trusted family member, close friend, or even a professional (like a counselor or therapist) to get things off your chest.
No matter how trivial the cause of your unpleasant day may seem, talking to someone else can help put things into perspective in ways you hadn’t considered.
Just venting to someone can sometimes be what you need to start thinking and healing.
Survive a Bad Day Cheat Sheet: Talk To Someone
- Call a family member to discuss your current situation and get advice.
- Reach out to a friend via text or call for clarity.
- If you’re feeling up to it, meet with a friend to talk and reconnect.
- Reach out to a therapist or counselor for guidance from a professional.
Listen to Music
Did you know that music has the power to influence your emotions? It can! Listening to certain music can directly affect your mood in remarkable ways.
You can tailor your music listening to fit the feelings you’re seeking when trying to survive a bad day.
You don’t have to take dedicated time to listen to music to utilize this tip. You can multitask by listening to music while you do other things like work, chores, running errands, and virtually any other tasks.
The goal is to allow music to help you feel the way you want.
Survive a Bad Day Cheat Sheet: Listen to Music To Feel Better
- To feel calmer, listen to jazz or lo-fi beats.
- To feel rejuvenated, listen to classical or show tunes.
- To increase your energy, listen to hip-hop or pop.
- To get a good cry, listen to sad song playlists.
Distract Yourself Using Entertainment
Escape into an imaginary world using movies, television, podcasts, or even books that allow you to forget your problems and invest in the issues of others.
Having a temporary escape from your situation can sometimes help to provide unexpected clarity when attempting to survive a bad day.
Additionally, taking time to be entertained can be the break from life’s responsibilities that you need at a difficult time.
Spending time laughing, thinking, crying, or countless other emotions using entertainment can be cathartic and unspeakably effective at giving you the distance from your troubles.
Survive a Bad Day Cheat Sheet: Distract Yourself With Entertainment
- Binge episodes of the latest trending show.
- Watch your favorite movies from childhood.
- Read a lighthearted novel.
- Listen to episodes of a comedy podcast.
- Play video games.
- Complete a puzzle.
Sleep
When you’re feeling down, do you tend to avoid or have trouble sleeping? It’s not uncommon to have a sleepless night after having a bad day. But, to help yourself feel better, it’s essential to try to get quality rest.
If you’ve ever gone to sleep feeling sad and woken up feeling better, you’re aware of how helpful sleep can be. Taking time to rest allows your brain to recover and start problem-solving when trying to survive a bad day.
Sleep is a crucial ingredient in getting over a bad day, whether you need to take a nap or get a whole night’s rest. As a bonus, you’ll sometimes wake up with a new perspective or clarity that you would not have had otherwise.
Survive a Bad Day Cheat Sheet: Sleep to Feel Better
- Set aside time for a 15 – 30 minute nap if you’re not sleepy but want to refresh your mind.
- Make your room and bed hospitable for good sleep (dim lighting, comfortable bedding, no devices, etc.).
- Prioritize a whole night’s sleep (at least 7- 9 hours) to allow your brain to process your emotions.
The Takeaway
When dealing with a bad day, it’s common to feel like things will never improve and that you’ll never get better.
But, with preparation and the right tips, there are ways to survive a bad day that are much easier than you realize.
Whether you’re dealing with a stressful job, relationship issues, or a generally low mood, there are ways to improve your feelings.
I learned firsthand that some of the simplest things, like a solid night’s sleep and talking to my inner circle, had a constructive effect on helping me survive a bad day.
I improved my mood with the help of personally-tested strategies like the ones discussed here, and you can use these tips too!
Writer’s Note: Sadness and depression can be moderate to severe types of conditions that may require medical assistance to alleviate. Treatment options can include therapy and medication. If you find that your symptoms of depression and sadness aren’t letting up or are worsening, please don’t hesitate to seek professional help from a therapist, counselor, or doctor.
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