How to Have a Good Day at Work: 10 Tips

Ever feel like your workday is against you? Nothing goes as planned, your energy's fading, and the clock is crawling? Maybe your routine needs a refresh. There's a limit of consistently bad shifts a person can handle before it starts affecting their well-being. After all, people spend a big part of their time (and lives!) at work. So what could be done to make it more enjoyable?

Fortunately, the employee wellness conversation is not a taboo anymore, and we can openly discuss ideas to improve our work-life—which is exactly what we're about to do now. Keep reading for advice on how to have a good day at work.

What's causing your bad workdays?

First of all, you should uncover the root of the problem. “Is it workload? Is it low energy? Is it interpersonal issues?,” says Alexis Haselberger, time management, productivity and stress-reduction coach.

If you're not sure, she suggests this technique: Start tracking your mood with timestamps. “For a few days to a week, track what you are doing and how that relates to your mood at any given point in the day.”

This will give a better understanding on what needs to change to improve your quality of life. Then, you can choose which advice on how to have a nice day at work better fits your situation. Maybe you just need more sleep, or maybe it's something bigger.

10 ways to have a good day at work

A good workday preps start at home. Little things like sleeping well, exercising, or meditating can actually make a big difference on the rest of your day. And that's just the beginning! Once you're at your desk—be it at the office or remotely—there are a lot of things you can do to boost your mood and productivity. 

Check out these simple yet effective tips to have a good day at work:

1. Plan your workday in advance

When it comes to work, just going with the flow is almost never a good idea. You're likely going to be frustrated or anxious about unexpected tasks—and that's the perfect recipe for a tough day. 

Instead, Haselberger suggests that you plan your day the night before. “One practice that can make everything go much more smoothly is to use the last 10 minutes of your workday to do an ‘end of day’ planning process,” she says. Here's how you could do it:

• Look at the calendar for the next day and compare it to your task list;

• Make sure you have a realistic plan for what you'll accomplish, given the time you have available.

It's an easy strategy that can help you save a lot of energy in the morning and, as a result, improve the rest of your day. “End of day planning ensures that you're being smart with your time, and that you're proactive instead of reactive,” adds Haselberger.

2. Create a pre-work routine

If your morning routine is chaotic or inexistent, the effects will show up at the office—unless you're able to detach completely as soon as you enter the firm. To start the day with your head in a good space, create a consistent pre-work routine that you feel capable of following everyday.

Read more: 9 Things These Highly Productive Work-From-Home Women Do

Instead of rushing straight to work, give yourself some time to do your morning hygiene, and have breakfast calmly. Then proceed to do a regular task that you need or would like to do early, like writing morning pages, walking and feeding the dog, exercising, or reading the newspaper.

3. Have daily goals

“Whatever you don't prepare for, you gamble with,” says Jayda Martin, an entrepreneur, educator and consultant that helps people live more than they work. 

Her advice to have a good day at work is to always have clear daily goals—especially if you're constantly feeling unproductive. “That's likely because you sat at your desk with no real purpose for that day. You were simply just showing up.”

Let's say your email inbox is always full, and you can never get on top of all your demands. Try to set a goal of responding to a set number of emails per day. Then, decide which ones are the biggest priorities and start with them. 

“Humans have different zones of focus at work, so it's essential to ensure there's one prioritized task each day that's going to make it a successful week, which then turns into a successful month,” says Martin. 

4. Combat false sense of urgency

Remember: If everything is urgent, then nothing is urgent. If you're always overwhelmed by many (supposedly) important tasks with tight deadlines, you may need a system of prioritization. Unless, of course, in your field emergencies are the norm. 

“People often get overloaded with minuscule tasks, that they forget to prioritize the high-impact work that gets the ball down the field,” says Martin.

Have a meeting or simply chat with your team to figure out which tasks are most important for the day/week. You could also propose using a task management system, such as Trello, Monday or Teamwork, to set your goals and organize your demands.

Read more: How to Create a Sense of Urgency at Work (Without Burning Anyone Out)

5. Organize your workspace (if possible)

You'd be surprised by how much your workspace can impact your day at work. Researches have shown that cluttered spaces can increase anxiety and stress levels, and even reduce productivity. So keep that in mind. 

Of course, not everyone has complete control over their environment. But if you can, take the opportunity to declutter and organize your workspace in order to create a sense of calm and focus. You'll thank us later.

6. Improve your physical health

Feeling drained and unproductive at work? It could be a sign your physical health needs some attention. First and foremost, contact your doctor to schedule a check-up. Secondly, improve daily habits that can have a toll on your well-being.

For example, go for nutritional meals instead of snacks or fast food, stay hydrated, and try to establish an earlier sleep schedule—especially if late nights are your thing. Exercising regularly is also proven to help. But if you don't have enough time or money for a gym, that's OK. Walks and at-home exercises could be your new best friends.

7. Work on your inner thoughts

Are you the type of person who gets extremely frustrated every time something doesn't go as planned? This could be the cause of your consistent bad workdays. 

“If your mindset is ‘If Monday was bad, the whole week is bad,’ then you're allowing a single day of bad news or bad productivity to rule your attitude for the week. This is destructive and it compounds,” says Martin.

Try to shift your perspective, and stop facing challenges, changes, or mistakes as setbacks. Embrace them as opportunities to learn new things, and grow as a person and a professional. 

You don't have to see everything with rose colored glasses, but you shouldn't think of every minor obstacle as the end of the world either. Balance is key.

8. Take a break

Many people force themselves to be productive, thinking this will result in more tasks completed—but it can actually have the opposite effect. 

“When you feel unfocused, don't double down and try to force yourself to focus. Instead, take a short break. Studies show that it increases productivity and creativity,” says Haselberger. “Set a timer if you're worried about losing track of time, but take a real break.” 

Listen to a podcast, read a few pages of a book, take a walk around the block, get a cup of coffee and stare out the window—whatever works for you. “When you return to your desk you'll feel much more focused than if you had spent those 10 minutes trying to be productive,” she adds.

9. Turn of your notifications

No need to be completely unreachable, but try turning off your notifications at work. “Every time we get distracted—yes, every ping or ding—it takes us, on average, 23 minutes to refocus on what you were doing,” says Haselberger. “To save time, and your sanity, turn off the notifications and batch-process your responses throughout the day.”

Remember those prioritization practices? Put them into action to determine what needs an immediate response and what doesn't. “For email, you might only need to process a couple of times a day.  For Slack, you might process more often, perhaps every hour.  You can use your away/status messages to let folks know how to reach you if they need you urgently,” suggests Haselberger.

10. Surround yourself with positive people

If you're always dealing with toxic coworkers, you're likely going to end your days feeling down. Negative people struggle to offer support or help, while those with a positive attitude tend to be more motivated and encouraging. 

Surrounding yourself with positive people fosters a supportive work environment, making it easier to overcome challenges and bounce back from bad days. 

How do I fix a bad day at work?

Let's face it: Some days at work will be difficult, no matter how organized, and resilient you are. Luckily, there are some strategies to get around them:

Don't be too hard on yourself 

Even if you do everything right, not everyday is going to be sunshine and rainbows. Some things are just unpredictable, and cannot be controlled. Keep that in mind whenever you're having a bad day and try not to be too hard on yourself.

Did you make a mistake? Take responsibility and move forward. Fix the situation—if you can—and prevent it from happening again, but don't let it get you down.

Fix only what can be fixed

Speaking of fixing mistakes at work, sometimes you simply can't. For example, it's out of your reach to change the behavior of your clients, or make your boss a more organized person. What you can do is to take control of how you act when facing those challenges. 

If something's gone wrong, and you did everything in your power to make it right, find peace knowing that your job is done. Don't overwork yourself unnecessarily.

Know when it's time to leave or seek help

If you tried everything to have a good day at work and nothing has improved, maybe it's time to seek professional help. You may be dealing with mental health issues that only a licensed professional can assist you with.

Constant bad days at work can also be a sign that you're in a toxic workplace, with poor management or abusive practices. Or maybe, this simply isn't the right place for you. If you realize that's the case, the best you can do is to start job searching again.