How To Stay Positive at Work When You’re Having a Bad Day at Work

Have you ever had a tough day at work and felt like it just brought you completely down? I’ve been there and I’m pretty sure most of us have. We all have days where we hit the snooze button like 10 times. We all have days where we don’t want to get out of bed and call in sick so that we can Netflix it all day with takeout food.

Yet, we have bills to pay, mouths to feed, clothes to wear and many other countless expenses. So we get up everyday, do our daily routine, get to work and deal with it. On these bad days, you can still kick-ass or at least make it appear as though you aren’t having a bad day.

I’ve had days where something in my personal life affects me to the point where I’m in a bad mood all day at work. Or maybe something bad happened at work yesterday and I decided to let it affect my whole week at work. These were my ways of thinking about three years ago. Then I decided to change that.

Why?

Because I was tired of having bad days and of letting them affect me so negatively. Sometimes it just takes a change in how you handle your day and how you are as a person.

I know people who have bad days and literally want to be left alone to sulk in their own negativity. I’m glad they don’t want to spread their negative energy but it still doesn’t mean that they should have to sulk around all day either.

How To Stay Positive at Work When You’re Having a Bad Day at Work:

1. Change your attitude.

People with bad attitudes have the worst days. I know many people like this. People who are unhappy with their own lives and people who are simply bitter. Your day will go a lot better if you learn to change your attitude about life in general.

Once your attitude changes to that of a positive one, then you will start to notice a pattern of change. First your life will get better, then things at your job will go better as well. When you come to work with a good mindset, you’re more likely to have a good day. And even if something goes wrong, you can still choose to have a good attitude about it. Which brings me to my next point.

2. You can’t always control everything.

Sometimes things in life are simply out of your control, and the same goes for the workplace. Many jobs demand so much out of people, but remember that you are human and you are only one person. Don’t stress out over something that’s nearly impossible.

I used to work in a department that requires at least two to three people working at the same time. Well, the majority of the time it was just one person — me. I would stress out because I was always attempting to do the job of three people. Mainly because I felt like I had to. But after several instances of not getting my breaks or lunch, and not being able to satisfy every single customer, I realized something. Even if there were the right amount of people working in the department, there would still be unhappy customers.

So I started to let things out of my control go. And I haven’t looked back since. My days at work go much better now.

You should always pay attention to your body. Sometimes, your body may be telling you that you’re overworking. Other times, you may be struggling with something called demand avoidance, which is common for neurodivergent people. When you understand why you’re stressed, you can decide the best option to take. 

3. What makes you happy?

Let’s say worse comes to worst and you’re just having a terrible day. You’ve tried to have the positive attitude, you’ve tried to let some of the stress go, but you still feel like you’re getting beat down. Work-1, You-0. That’s what it feels like right?

Well what makes you happy? Think of your happy place or do something that makes you happy that can get your mind of the bad work day you’re having. Maybe hearing your partner’s voice will make you feel better. Or maybe calling up a friend to vent a little brings you back to your positive baseline. Channel that happiness into your day and rise above the bad mood you’ve found yourself in.

There will always be a way to make your bad day go much better. Sometimes all you need to do is find a way. Remember that you can still kick-ass on these bad days. Having a positive outlook on things will help make that day go much smoother.

You may even find that the bad energy you initially felt will drive you to want to get shit done and kick ass at your day. Now it’s looking more like: Work-0, You-1.

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