Having a bad day? Here's a trick I use, share yours

So, you're having a rough day, huh?

A day where no matter how hard you try, things will just not get themselves into line like they should? It's like just one more #@$%* problem after another? 

I'll bet you got this look on your face when asked "how's your day going?"

And yeah look, I hear you. Welcome to Grumpy Town. You've just been elected Mayor.

So like most of the posts I have been putting up for you, this one is no different. It is designed to give you insight into how someone (in this case, me) deals with stuff when things go haywire or get full-on crazy. 

I had one of these rough days yesterday – a doozy that had me wound up good and proper. So what did I do to stop becoming Sheriff of Sh1tty City? Well, weird as it sounds, I gave yesterday its very own name. I defined the day according to my terms. 

No, I didn't call it "Oh dear lord when will it ever end?", "Shoulda stayed in bed" or "Is it ok for a grown man to curl into a ball, sit in the corner and rock back and forth with his thumb in his mouth?". No. 

I didn't even call it "Ralph" or "Shaniqua"

I actually named it "Com'mon, bring it" day. Lame? Yeah, maybe. But it is a little bit defiant regardless.

To paint the picture, my yesterday started right at 7:30am when I arrived and didn't let up in intensity until around 5pm when I left. All the pre-planning, time management or manager skill in the world couldn't have saved me. I had plenty of support from my manager and my team but still had crazy amounts of work to do, everything suddenly becoming marked as "urgent - has to have been done yesterday" whilst deadlines kept creeping up with multiple angry customers calling and demanding answers/resolutions instantly to many problems that required lots of investigation. Breathing time for a bit became optional. It got to the point where I began feeling stressed and well under pressure with no end in sight.  

Now, admittedly, it took me a little while than usual to trigger and get my defences up, so it wasn't until around 1:30pm when I managed to define it. 

But the moment I did?  My day changed.  Things got better. I re-found my mojo/my inner strength. 

As with most situations, it is always your perception of it that defines whether or not you are going to be successful in handling what's being thrown at you. Sure, it was a rough day, but with every new item that landed on my desk, I challenged it to overwhelm me, determination kicking in not to let it. I fought back. 

I defied the stress and pressure, got my determination going and ended up getting some (but not all) of the things I needed to get done, done. I even had lots of wins with all but one of the angry customers I dealt with. 

Most importantly, I found myself in a much better head space.

So, my method of putting me in a corner works - I'll always fight back - so that's what I did to myself. Also, once I'd changed how I viewed the day, realising none of it was personal and that I could only do what I could do was much easier, plus with the positive hindsight that I could've defined my day sooner (so will next time), yesterday didn't get its chance to mess me up.  

Also most of the people around me were also completely unaware of the challenges I was dealing with - so face saved as "he who doesn't stress much" as well. Win/Win.

So, now I've shared my quirky method – your turn.

How do you cope?