What to Do When You're Feeling Blah
I think we all have these days where you just feel tired and like you’re dragging your feet.
Maybe you didn’t have a good sleep the night before.
Maybe you’re coming down with something.
Or maybe, you’re just having a blah day.
Whatever the reason, here are a few things to do to change your mood from blah to happy (or at least not-so-blah!)
Move your body
When I’m feeling blah, one of the best things I can do is to move. Whether it’s a walk, chopping and piling wood (this actually makes me feel better believe it or not!), or putting on some music and dancing around, whenever I can move, it does make me feel better.
Some other options for things to try:
play with your cat/ dog
take your dog for a walk
go jogging
go skating/ skiing/ snowshoeing, or if it’s summer, go swimming, hiking, or biking
stretch
take a yoga class
do something kind for someone else
tidy an area of your home
Think of what you’re grateful for
When you focus on things that you’re grateful for in your life, it becomes harder to be in a bad mood. Although the quote below by Tony Robbins is about using being grateful to get rid of fear, I think this works the same with having a bad day.
“When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.”
If you can focus on even one thing that you’re grateful for, it switches your mind and thoughts from negative to more positive. And although thinking of one thing won’t automatically make you happy, it might make enough of a switch that you start feeling better.
Create a grateful jar
One thing a friend of mine did was create a grateful jar and they write notes of things they are grateful or thankful for. She also has her kids write notes of things they are thankful for.
Create a grateful jar to write down things you’re grateful for. On bad days, read some of the notes to remind you.
If you’re feeling down, you could either write down a few things that you’re grateful for, or read a few of the notes to help remind yourself of things you or your family are grateful for.
Be Self Aware
Everyone is different and gets out of a bad mood differently than anyone else, so it’s hard to share a one-size fits all type solution. The absolute best thing you can do is to figure out what works for you to get out of a bad mood, and then keep that in mind the next time you’re feeling down.
For me, when I’m feeling blah, what works for me is writing (I wrote this blog and I’m starting to feel better!), reading, listening to music, petting my cat, and going for a walk or doing an activity. But for you, going for a walk might make you feel worse. Maybe watching 15 minutes of your favourite show works for you, or grabbing coffee with a friend.
Pay attention to the days that you are feeling down, try out a few different things, and see which works to cheer you up. I do believe there are things you can try, but ultimately we are all different and will respond differently to these activities.
What about you? What do you do on days when you’re feeling blah? Share with me in the comments!
