Life Hacks for Happier Days

I know I make a lot of music references, but have you ever had a bad day? Have you tried singing a sad song, just to turn it around? Yeah, that never really worked for me either.

Personally, it doesn’t take much. Missed my morning alarm? Bad day. Didn’t work out? Bad day. Didn’t accomplish approximately 107 things on my to-do list? Bad day. Forgot ONE THING on the WalMart delivery order and now I still have to go to the store? TERRIBLE DAY. I usually set unrealistic expectations for what my days should look like, and then I’m surprised when they don’t work out. It’s a known character flaw, I’m working on it…

I’m sure you’ve also had days where things just seem to pile on top of you. It’s usually the small things, but small things aren’t necessarily insignificant. If I’m not careful, the small annoyances morph into anger and I’ll let it take the wheel. Then, before I know it, I’ve snapped at my husband and yelled at my toddler for no real reason. Terrible, I know…

Then I heard Deon Sanders talk about bad days and it completely changed my life.

The Choice

I was at a conference for work. One of those two-day events where they put you up in a nice hotel in exchange for making you sit through umpteen corporate breakout sessions. It’s a bit of a snooze fest, but we always have at least one amazing guest speaker. This particular year, it was Coach Prime.

Of course, everyone in attendance was pumped to listen to him talk. Our company president interviewed Deon while hundreds of us sat as still as statues, hanging on to every word. I’m not the biggest fan of sports, but I do love a good speaker, and Deon is a phenomenal speaker. That’s a big part about being a successful coach. You have to know what to say to motivate your players to do what they need to do. Coach Prime has that ability innately. People listen to what he has to say.

I can’t remember the question or the context, but I remember what Coach Prime said and it stuck with me ever since. It was something like this:

“I never have a bad day. I might have a bad minute, or a bad hour, or even a bad few hours, but I never let it turn into a bad day.”

He went on to talk about how time is a gift. Each day is an opportunity to be better than the last, and allowing situations to dictate how you act is not the move. The day you are living right now is the only day you will ever be guaranteed. Why would you choose to make it a bad one?

That’s when it clicked for me. Every time that I had a bad day, I was actively choosing not to make it better. Choosing to let the bad moments win. What a horrible choice! From that day on, I started making a conscious effort not to let my bad moments turn into bad days.

Life Hacks to Help Your Happy

Now, I’m not perfect. Sometimes the bad overruns me and I allow it to ruin my day. Sue me, I’m human. But I’ve also found ways to chase the bad away and focus on the good.

Smile! 

It may seem silly, but smiling is one of the quickest ways to improve your mood. Smiling triggers all types of feel-good chemicals in your brain. I learned that there are actually 3 types of smiles. Duchenne (a genuine smile with the mouth and eyes), social, and forced. Surprisingly, all 3 are shown to have positive effects on mood in varying degrees.

Just the other day, my son cried non-stop for 30 minutes and I FINALLY got him down for a nap. Then, I went back to my office to catch up work. On days like those, you’ll frequently find me hunched over my laptop with a scowl plastered across my face. When I notice what my body is doing, I make a point to sit up a little straighter, take a deep breath, and smile. In less than 30 seconds, I actively make myself feel just a little bit better.

Try it! Get a bit more comfortable, take a deep breath, and smile. Just a grin to start, and I’ll bet in a few seconds, you’ll start smiling for real!

According to this article on verybigbrain.com:

“When you smile, your brain interprets that muscular movement as a signal that you’re experiencing something positive, leading to a feedback loop that boosts actual feelings of happiness and alters emotional interpretation.”

There you have it. Science.

Practice Gratitude

Having a gratitude practice is probably the 1^st chapter in “Happiness For Dummies.” If it isn’t, it really should be. When you regularly reflect on all that you have to be grateful for, difficult days become less difficult. Gratitude shifts the focus from the things that are going wrong to all of the things that have gone right. Take a look at all the positive psychological effects gratitude can influence in the graph below:

Mental Health Aspect	Effect of Gratitude Practice
Positive Emotions	Increased joy, hope, and optimism
Stress Levels	Reduced physiological and psychological stress
Depression and Anxiety	Lower symptoms, improved coping strategies
Social Connections	Strengthened bonds and support networks
Life Satisfaction	Enhanced sense of purpose and contentment

 I practice gratitude in several different ways. When I smile to help improve my mood, I also make a point to name at least 1 thing about my day that I’m grateful for. This helps me to focus on all of my wins, big or small. Even if it’s as simple as eating breakfast or taking a shower, I’m grateful for those wins on days when nothing else seems to go right. And I’ll take as many smile + gratitude breaks as I need throughout the day, usually when I start to feel my negativity winning.

Want to learn more about the effects of gratitude on your mental health? Check out this article!

Take a Walk

And last, but certainly not least, taking a walk outside does wonders for your energy and attitude. There’s just something special about getting out in the sun, breathing in the fresh air, and moving your body.

Sunlight triggers all the happy hormones in our brains, plus helps to regulate our circadian rhythm to promote better rest and recovery. Just a few minutes in the sun each day can help make your smile a little fuller. Add that to walking, or any other light exercise, and you’re poised to have a wonderful day, regardless of what else happens.

Read more about the effects of sunlight on the body in my article about Seasonal Depression!

Bad things happen to us all, but how we handle them is completely our choice. We can either let our circumstances steal our joy, or do our best to focus on the good things in spite of the bad. Implementing these small habits can help you make sure your bad moments don’t turn into bad days. Because a day is something you’ll never get back, no matter how you spend it.