If This Has Been Your Worst Work Day Ever, You Need To Hear These 3 Things

Photo by Asa Rodger on Unsplash

You want to jack it all in. You’re under appreciated, over-worked and going nowhere.

Meanwhile others less experienced, less hard-working, less good seem to be flying.

I’ve been there. It’s not fun.

Take a breath, open your eyes wide and try to escape the tunnel vision. There is hope.

Tomorrow is the day after your worst work day ever. It is a new day.

It can be a better day, and gradually your work life can improve more than you think. Just hear these 3 things: unhook, adjust and project.

You Can Unhook

Photo by Robert Metz on Unsplash

At the moment, all the negative work thoughts are buzzing around your head. So try to get your head some place else.

In his book ‘The Confidence Gap’, Dr Russ Harris talks about acknowledging and then actively un-hooking yourself from negative thoughts.

You have to do some self-talk. It can feel a bit strange at first, but this technique has worked for me. It could go something like this:

“Oh here you are ‘Anger’, thanks for showing up now. I can see you there, wanting to lash out at everyone and spoil my evening, but I’m not going to let you take over because that won’t help me right now.

I’ve got some other things I can try.”

If that feels odd then try this:

Engage in an activity which is ‘actively passive’. It takes just enough concentration to do it, but not so much that the activity itself is stressful. You still have room for thoughts to come and go.

I used to have about an hour’s cycle for my commute. At times it was through busy traffic so I had to stay switched on, but I knew the route so well that I was almost on autopilot.

The rhythmic pedalling soothed my mind and whilst my work problems still bounced around my head, they seemed to have largely blown themselves out by the time I got home.