You must have one of those days, where altogether nothing seems to be going your way, and you might feel that world is almost positively against you. However, a bad day at work is only going to get worse if you do not at least try and do something about it. How we respond to a bad day can make a differentiation between a quick recovery and lasting damage. As charming as it may be to write just off that day from a nightmare, it is better to take action that can turn things around or at least stop them from getting bad.

Looking at what is causing a bad day at workplace; here are some valuable tips about how to handle a bad day at workplace

The Administrator. More than any other this person has the authority to interrupt your work. Tip is to start learning to read your supervisor’s mind and keep things friendly. If you are having a bad day, stay out of your boss’s way because that is not the right time to be proactive about interacting. Maybe you’ll get irritated and say or do something that may be held against you for a long time. In a similar way if your boss seems to be having a bad day, try to keep back the things reschedule your essential conversations until another time.

Fellow Worker. Colleagues can be more difficult to manage than bosses because you’ve got them around you all day. If stress has built around a particular issue, try to discuss it reasonably with the right individual. At times, when you are having a bad day, you might feel a little bit more courageous in taking things up. Alternatively, you might decide to wait until you are feeling better about things. An occasional day working at home can give you time out from team politics.

Work stress. This affects all of us at several times in our careers. Divide what’s important from what’s not. Find ways that could take the heat out of you. Prepare a to-do list when you turn up at work. Set yourself realistic targets such as I’ve got to do this.

Pay and promotion. Maybe the salary hike or promotion you desired for hasn’t come through. This is bothering you and makes you angry. Look at the other advantages to your job, like experience in a new field, the possibility to work with friendly colleagues, or flexible work schedule. If not, step forward your networking pains to find a new position.

Feeling ill.  As winter advances, colds and flu get passed around the office. You may feel like a weakling staying home, but it is important to pay attention to your body. Not taking care of physically could just stretch the time it takes to recover. Moreover, if you are finding too sick to rivet, you are not doing anyone a favor by expressing up at work.

Accident or home damage. Personal security and our home are vital to our lives. Whether it’s a traffic, conflict or a home tragedy like washroom flooding or cooking gas leakage, it may be essential for you to drop everything at work and carry on with the crisis. If anything happens likes that, split down what you have to do into different tasks and perform them one at a time. Let your boss also know what’s going on right away so you can bring out the time you need to handle things and won’t have to deal with questions later.

Sudden Change. Sudden changes happen frequently within organizations which can sometimes be demoralizing. Start by examining its impact on you. If necessary, give a deep thought into it until you feel better. At times, something that appears that will put you in an adverse situation or obstruct your work might benefit you in the long run.

Family and friends. If you’ve got family and friends who need your help and require your time, the matter is boundary management. You have work to do. People in your personal life have to regard that. If they do not, you might need to let them know decisively that you will not be accessible at certain times, for example, will call you after I’ve finished this” or will see you as soon as I finished the work.

If you ever arrive at work on a wretched Monday morning and suddenly get that feeling, it might be worth thinking back to the last bad day you had and how you got over it. Soon, you could become a specialist in giving tips to your colleagues in handling a bad day at workplace.

Prof. (Dr.) Ajay Mehta –The author is a HR consultant and corporate trainer at ERA Business School (EBS), one of the fastest growing Business school in the country located at Dwarka, New Delhi. He can be reached at ajay.m@ebsmail.in