When Everything Goes Wrong At Work…It’s One Of Those Days!

I am sure that I speak for most people when I say that we have all experienced ‘one of those days’ where it seems as though everything goes wrong from the minute we wake up, right up until we go to bed at night. As we shrug our shoulders and raise our hands in exasperation as yet again another unfortunate catastrophe befalls us, we will undoubtedly receive understanding and knowing looks from others. After all, no one is exempt from ‘one of those days!’. We have all had them.

However, having a bad day at home can be very different to having a bad day at work. The main difference is that with being at home, we can somewhat contain our catastrophes and deal with them in a more calm way because it is in our home and we are fully  in charge of that environment. It is a medium of our own making and we only have ourselves to answer to.

In a working environment, we have our professional status to maintain at all times as well as the integrity of the company and of course, there are often many others to consider in a working environment. Managers, colleagues, clients and visitors are invariably part of a typical working day for many so it is important to deal with any adversity straight away and to keep calm so as not to affect the smooth running of the day.

Some days it will seem as soon as one calamitous event is over, then the next one is already happening. A well meaning colleague will alert you to the next succession of impending mishaps by whispering ‘it happens in threes, you know!’ Of course it doesn’t but it can seem this way.

More often than not it is our mindset and the feeling of anxiety that propels us into thinking everything is going wrong then we may find ourselves negatively overthinking. Occasionally we just need to take a moment to step back, breathe slowly and reground ourselves.

Let’s put it in perspective. You were late to work because you missed the train - but you notified your manager then apologised and assured them that it won’t happen again. Then you accidentally sent an important email to the wrong person - but you realised your mistake and did your best to rectify it. Then you spilled coffee all over your colleague’s desk - but you cleaned it immediately and offered to get them another. You popped to the canteen on your lunch break only to find that your favourite type of sandwich that you had been looking forward to all morning, had already been sold.  Nil desperandum -  you can just get a different flavour for today. Then you have that impending meeting this afternoon….or is it tomorrow? Or was it yesterday and you forgot?!

So it’s easy to feel more and more stress and mental pressure as the day continues if we are in a negative mindset which can easily impair our reasoning and ability to function. However, by being resilient, calm and patient with ourselves, we can sail through the remainder of the day by relieve ourselves of the pressure to be perfect. And if all fails, tomorrow is another day!