Creative Ideas for Getting Through A Bad Day

1) If at work: successfully survive the work day without making it worse. This is an accomplishment in and of itself. Need I say more?

2) Personal hygiene can also be self care. I personally always feel better after I've taken a hot shower at the end of a long day.

3) Check: is my space clean? (This is perhaps more applicable in quarantine when we're stuck at home all day). If not, I highly recommend getting the free "pomodoro" app, and cleaning one area of your space for the entire 25 minutes. I'm always surprised at how much I'm able to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time if I set my mind to it.

4) Make sure that you're "set up" for the next day (phone charged, work bag packed, alarm set, etc.)

5) Watch one of your favorite movies or read one of your favorite books (for example, I always like to re read "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle when I feel stuck)

6) Write/respond/compose emails that you haven't gotten to yet. This can be particularly helpful in alleviating anxiety if there's a certain email you've been avoiding writing/responding to.

7) Similarly, I personally always feel highly productive when I run an errand like grocery shopping or going to the DMV that perhaps I've been avoiding.

8) If possible, remove yourself from the situation that's upsetting you (obviously this isn't always possible...)

9) Schedule an appointment you've been meaning to make (aww, the dreaded dentist appointment...am I the only person who avoids this for far too long?) but have been procrastinating on.

10) Do something to move the needle forward for your career. This will look different for everyone, but for me personally my go to solution is going on Backstage and looking for opportunities that fit my stats (age, gender, location, etc.), updating my website, resume, LinkedIn, etc. However, recently I had a tough day where as a little pick me up I treated myself to a new shirt that I intend to wear when I get my headshots retaken after the pandemic (obviously it goes without saying that the "end" date has yet to be seen...). So, this can certainly mix business and pleasure...

Disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional. These are simply things that have worked for me in the past.