Bad day at work - How do you deal with it?

Our life is so busy with work, home, children and our self. I know there is bad days as well as good days. So the key is patience . When you are angry take a long breath and say yes , I am angry right now. I have two choices. One is to do whatever my anger says . The other one is to be the boss of my anger. when you are hungry anger seems to take over. So eat small meals often. Think home as heaven don't bring your stress to there.

 

Yes it do happens with me too - irritated and frustrated. But then my MIL says or must have fine something and my mind is diverted from office tension to home but feeling remains same irritated Witsend

 

I think most important thing is to detach work from office. You work at office,travel back and forth, have tensions related to deadlines, people's attitude, your progress, and people tend to bring these tensions home. You need to practice disconnecting the two. When you are at home, that is your safe place. You need to relax, laugh and recharge for the next day. When I come back home, among first things I do is call for my son, go hug and kiss him repeatedly. Then go change and I imagine while taking away my office clothes and putting on home wear that I have removed all office thoughts and now I am home.

Remember work is important but it is not the most important or biggest piece of your life. Most important is you and your family.

IT also helps sine you will find once you hae decided and

 

It helps to know that stress is a part and parcel of work life. Every one faces it. However, if it is a daily thing, then it is worrisome. Change your office/role if you are under too much stress. Also, if the commute is long, then you should find a new home/office, so at least the commute is not stressful.

Try to recognize what causes conflicts, and defuse those situations, before they lead to a serious conflict. If it is unavoidable, share your thoughts diplomatically, with the other person. Be fair, remember your goal is only to find a solution, take care to talk about solving the problems, rather than attacking the person. Also, don't let the other person attack you. If it goes to that point, just say in a calm voice - let us see how we can resolve our issues. Don't let any one attack you unreasonably, or accept blame for something you did not do. Conflicts happen, they don't have to be disrespectful.

Do good work (the best you can, and then leave it), and realize you have control over managing conflicts. Try to be on good terms with colleagues, and help them.

A relaxing bath, and some tea, is how I unwind at home.

 

Ages ago(it sure seems like a different life from where I stand now!), I was in a high pressure job.

1. My commute time was when I used to unwind. I prefered public transport for most part.
2. While waiting for the transport I would ring a non-work friend for a 10 min chat.
3. Read something light on the way back especially.
4. Close my eyes and imagine getting a foot massage.
5. If it were by car, I'd find a chatty radio channel with soothing music.
6. I'd stop enroute for a coffee and a quick snack. (Even if home was just a few min away)
7. If I've had an especially bad day, I warn people at home in advance so they can treat me with kid gloves.
8. Turn the diva switch on and do my own thing to wind down instead of running behind others to do "service" when I feel agitated.
9. In the morning, leave my space (whole home here, my room in india) in a state i like to find it in when I return.
10. On days I need a bit of pick me up, ring husband and arrange to meet him outside for either a meal or snack before making the way home.

A bit of CBT could help putting a pin on thoughts that you might hash over in your head repeatedly.

 

Hi,
If you find things are stressful at both home and office, then things are not being managed well. Start planning ahead at least for the next 5 years. If you have constant pressure at work, find out what they are and see how they can be worked out. Talk to your manager or any senior whom you can trust and lessen the work burden. At home, hire help for things you need. Use this opportunity to create some time for yourself by knocking off the excess load that you are pulling. From my experience, one needs to constantly rework things depending on their situation to stay afloat.

Here are couple of quotes from the book Leanin by Sheryl Sandberg
“Done is better than perfect.”
“Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder.”
"Long term success at work depends on not trying to meet every demand placed on us"

 

bad commute/traffic jam - I always have radio on either talk show or music. If i don't like what's on radio, i switch to my usb for songs.

disagreement with boss/co-workers: I stay calm and just listen and never react. After the meeting, i will go out for a walk and compose my self and my thoughts and then work with people.

tighter schedule/work-life balance: I always make a list on my phone of things to be done both at work and at home and always prioritize what is more important and then plan accordingly.

Just change the way you think, don't think of stress, conflicts, pressure etc. Think of challenges, disagreements and "yes i can". Do a lot of walking alone. That soothes the mind and provides solution.

take care. don't let such things affect your health. Always think in terms of family and most of the things will fall in place.