8 Steps to Turn a Terrible Workday Around

Bad days can ruin progress, in fact they can take it and turn it backwards. Aside from the frustration of not getting everything done, however, it can be flat-out stressful to be in such a bad mood. Especially when it continues throughout the day, and could potentially affect your business. Up to a point you can be in control of turning your day around – talking yourself up or cheering on the day with your favorite meal. But for the days when nothing seems to go right, when things keep sliding downhill no matter what you do, there are a few ways to pull yourself back up.

So grab onto those bootstraps, take a deep breath, and bear with yourself – it gets better, we swear.

Yes, some days are so bad that your favorite anything won’t make much of a dent, but it’s likely to do more than you think. Even if it’s in your subconscious, you can relax a little when sipping on your favorite beverage or listening to your favorite song. Find a way to work a reward into your day when things are stressful, it might do more good than you realize.

Whether it’s one thing or many, it can give you peace of mind to learn where your stress is coming from. (It can also help you do away with that same problem toward your franchise the next time around.) Backtrack until you find the source, then work to see if you can reverse or undo anything that’s happened up to that point. If nothing else, it can be calming to know how chaos came to be, allowing you to avoid it in the future.

Breathe in, and breathe out. Let the day soak in, but relax while you’re doing so. As trivial as this might sound, shallow and frequent breaths can actually cause more stress. Instead, take your air all the way in and let it back out to send negative vibes along with it.

This might not be the most glamorous of options, but it’s one that works. When all else fails, just start getting after it. You might not accomplish as much as you’d originally intended, but it’s still better than losing an entire day of progress toward your company, right?

Oftentimes, we are too close to a situation to realize what’s actually taking place. Or we are too emotional to make rational decisions. While you can gain as much info as you need, avoid taking any big steps, or really, making any types of changes. (You’d hate to go too far in the heat of the moment.) Cool down and then you can address the issue in a few hours … or a even few days.

Was it someone’s fault that the day went terribly wrong? Was there a structural issue? A company that failed to follow up their end of the deal? Or was it all coincidence? With the latter, there’s not much you can do except shrug and hope it won’t happen again. Things happen, as a franchisee you’ll need to learn to deal. However, when there’s a trail, you can skip those who don’t perform. That way history won’t repeat itself.

On the days that you just can’t get it all done, hand off some of your workload to someone else. This goes for personal stuff, too. Ask your spouse or a parent to pick up the kids or dry cleaning. Meanwhile, your business partner might be able to take on that meeting you are too crammed to make. Then again, last minute reschedulings aren’t ideal, but sometimes, they’re the only way to make everything fit.

To avoid taking your day with you, create a definite stopping point. Maybe it’s when you’ve completed a certain number of tasks. It might be a time of day. The deciding factor doesn’t so much matter, however, so long as you become good and done. No calls, no emails, no thinking about what you have to do the next day. It’s the only way to move on to your home life, and not take the day’s rough patches with you.

There’s no denying that bad days take place. However, to keep their damages to a minimum, follow these steps and try to turn things around as often as possible. This creates a simple way to improve professionalism and work toward an even more successful franchise.