There’s a site I subscribe too called LifeHacker (I highly advise you having a look!). Today they published an article about ‘The science behind “Having a bad day”.

We all know that productivity goes out the window when we are having a bad day and its safe to say that in order to succeed in anything you do it is important to remove as many ‘Bad days’ as you can to keep moral and productivity up.

Below is a brief outline of the article so you can get an idea of what they published. If its something that interests you click the link at the bottom of the post to read the article in full… (be warned though there’s some strong language in the article)

LifeHacker: The Science Behind “Having a Bad Day” (and How to Solve It)

Sometimes you wake up, and within the first hour or so, you know it’s going to be a bad day… there’s real science behind it. Let me explain.

A Bad Day is as Real as You Make It. Think for a minute… when is the last time you had a bad day? When is the last time a couple things happened, not quite as you had planned, and you thought, “I cannot wait until today is over!”

Here’s the thing… there is absolutely no such thing as a bad day in reality. A bad day only exists in our interpretation of reality, which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Peter J. Bentley, PhD, the author of Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day, responded:
“Yes, and it’s our fault, I’m afraid! The statistics show that people who believe in bad luck will have more accidents on Friday the 13th. Those who have a negative attitude are more likely to endow normal little mishaps with some mystical significance. Some psychologists even suggest that it’s a way of subconsciously avoiding responsibility for our actions. “It was Friday 13th, so I was bound to stick my fingers with superglue” or “Accidents happen in threes, so after the first mishap the next two were inevitable.” Of course it’s nonsense.

So there you have it, we have the ability to make a bad day exist if we believe it to exist.

The article then goes on to explaining why if we know what a bad day is why do we still have them (convenient over-simplification apparently!)  To read the full article click here but before you do I just want to share how they say to solve the problem so…

1. Reflect on the negative feeling you have right now. Is it stress? Anxiety? Frustration? What caused it? Try to label it in one to three words, but no more! … Once you’ve labeled it, do not think about the feeling or events anymore. Move on and only refer back to the label if necessary.

2. Re-evaluate the situation or events that lead to this stress. Find some conceivable positive outcome… imagine some way it could have gone worse

3. Remember that the outcome of the previous minute is not indicative of the outcome of the next minute. Likewise, the last hour has no bearing on the next hour, and this morning is no indication of what this afternoon will bring.

Anyway that should be enough to get you thinking for the day (or indeed when you are next having a bad day!)

As another reference point check out these;

David Rock’s book,
Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long

Peter J. Bentley, PhD
Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day,

Article information provided by LifeHacker.com

One Comment »

Week In Review said:
Nice post, Lifehacker is one of the sites I check out too! I believe organisation is a massive component of having a good day!
7 August 2010 at 2:05 pm

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