ome of you may not know this but I used to be a special needs teacher. Even though I really did enjoy my work, some days it sucked and when it sucked, it sucked harder than most other jobs. When I worked in an office, a bad day might include the photocopying room losing my order or my boss being a bit unpleasant. A bad day in a special needs school might mean having to keep a seizing student alive until the ambulance arrives or going home missing a chunk of my hair because a student decided to give me a silent and spontaneous hair cut.
I’ve had some incredibly stressful work days in my time and I’ve come up with a few coping mechanisms that have helped me through these days. Here’s how to make a sucky work day suck less.
Breathe
If you’re stuck in a stressful moment where your colleagues are fighting or there’s some kind of an emergency, you need to remember to breathe. Particularly if you work in a field where you come into contact with people who behave in unpredictable ways like if you’re a nurse, counsellor or teacher. Pretending to be calm won’t help – other people will pick up on it. You need to breathe slowly and speak with purpose. You’ll feel much more in control and you will also look like you’re in control which certainly never hurts.
Phone a friend
As soon as you have a moment, call a friend. If you’re having a crisis at work it’s easy to feel trapped and a life line to the outside is just what you need. Call someone sensible who will be able to talk you down off the ledge and help you get through the day. Tell them what you need to hear if need be, just make sure you talk to someone who is not involved in your sucky day and who will be able to put it all into perspective for you.
Focus
What time do you finish work? Have that time in your head and make it your goal to get through to that time. If you want to go home and scream into your pillow/chug down half a bottle of vodka that’s fine – you just have to make through to the end of the day.
Stay hydrated
Bad days are usually bad because they’re really busy and you don’t have time to do anything. If you don’t even have time to grab lunch, make sure you slam a few glasses of water as soon as you get a chance. Dehydration coupled with stress will make your day so much worse, so don’t get slack with your water consumption.
Let people help you
When you’re stuck in a vortex of ‘I’M FINE!’ mode, it can be easy to fall into a trap of thinking that everyone else is useless and it would be easier if you just did yourself. I’m 100% guilty of this so I always have to remind myself that’s okay to let a colleague help you out. Even if it’s just making you a cup of tea or taking over your job for 15 minutes. Accepting help is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign that you needed help.
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Have you ever had a really, really sucky day at work? How did you get through it?
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