Ever have one of those days where nothing goes right?
From the first thing you do, everything seems to go sideways.
How do you stay productive when nothing is going your way?
Some Days Nothing Goes Your Way
Some days just don’t cooperate.
Everything seems to be out-of-order.
From your first step out of bed things go wrong.
Your clothes aren’t clean. Traffic is horrible. You spill your coffee. You arrive late to work, only to discover that you left something at home.
Makes you ready to turn around and head back-to-bed, right?
Turning It Around
How do you get things back on track when nothing seems to be going your way?
You can fold and surrender to the day. Or you can get back on your feet and decide that you are going to have a good day no matter what transpires.
“When things aren’t going your way, it’s your choice to give up or turn things around.” (Tweet this Quote)
Sometimes it is that choice that makes the difference between a bad day and one that is productive.
Here are 9 Ways to Be Productive When Everything is Going Wrong:
- Bring a Positive Attitude – A positive attitude can make all the difference. It can take a bad situation and turn it around, sometimes as fast as you can smile.
- Put It in Perspective – There are very few true emergencies in life. No how bad your day is going, keep in mind that it probably doesn’t mean much in the big scheme of things. Don’t over react to trivial happenings.
- Change Tactics – If things aren’t working, it’s time to change the game. If you are being too serious, lighten up. If you are holding on too tightly, it may be time to try a lighter touch.
- Laugh It Up – Sometimes you just have to laugh at life. And laugh at yourself. Laughing at the situation can be the first step in reversing the negative tone of your day.
- Don’t Give Up – As the saying goes, it’s not about how many times you get knocked down… it’s about how many times you get back up. Don’t let life’s happenings and petty frustrations stop you.
- Do Something Else – If you aren’t able to get one thing done, try doing something else. A change of task can get you back on track and clear your head. Circle back to the frustrating task later and you might just see the solution from a different vantage point.
- Get Some Help – Don’t let your pride prevent you from asking for help. There is a time and a place to call for backup. Reach out to someone you trust to help you past that obstacle.
- Don’t Get Mad, Get Motivated – Complaining doesn’t get anything done. Neither does blind rage. Getting mad doesn’t help. Instead, channel that energy into action to get things done.
- Focus on One Thing – Often when things are going awry it is because we are multi-tasking or dividing our attention. Instead, focus on the one thing that is most important to get done.
Turn Your Day From Wrong to Right
We all have days when we want to just to give up until tomorrow.
The key is to keep going. Turn it around.
Sometimes, adversity can be a great motivator.
Let it drive you from frustration to success when you are having a bad day.
Question: How do you deal when things aren’t going your way? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Another good post. 🙂 Most of it boils down to my typical approach of:
1) If you’re putting in too much effort, you’re doing it wrong. Can be applied to Project Management, software coding, loosening bolts on an engine… etc etc.
2) Always remember, a plane takes off a hell of a lot easier with a decent head wind. Not covering as much ground as previous isn’t always the best route to efficiency.
A timely article for me to read. I find that days like this can feel even more frustrating if you were expectations were too high. I walked into my morning thinking I was going to knock out a couple of hours of productive writing. No siree! I couldn’t get my head wrapped around it at all. Just employed idea #6 – do something else. I will go back to it once some time has passed. Thanks:)
When productivity isn’t going my way I change up the setting and it almost always works. Home is my least productive area but I can get work done here, then of course there are days where being at home just won’t work. For those days, I usually go to Coffee Bean or Starbucks and suddenly I’m working, fully focused, and implementing the Pomodoro technique without fail (thanks to the Strict Workflow Google Chrome extension.)
Usually when I have a day like that I sit down and make a new plan for the rest of the day rather than trying to make the old plan work. That usually works.
Some days nothing goes as planned. This is when you should try and be focused instead of getting frustrated as it is bound to happen at some stage. Ensuring Employee
Engagement in such cases is critical
This is some great advice. I’d like to share this with my followers on Monday otherwise known as the day most likely to not succeed. It’s less about what you can control and more about your attitude about it. Great article to refer back to after a “@! $#!” moment.
Funny how it’s always Monday… 😛
I feel like this post came on a day when it was extremely needed. So thanks for that! 🙂
Always something that goes wrong in my life usually financially and government not giving me benefits that im entitled to constant struggle stay away from wales
Excellent post.
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