16 Things You Can Do For Yourself When You Get Home From A Bad Day

1. Take a long, hot shower. Don’t even do anything for the first ten minutes. Stay in there for as long as you’d like. Make it a ridiculous amount of time if you want. It’s called a life shower and it’s completely necessary.

2. Put on a really big, loose t-shirt. And fat pants. And big, fluffy socks or slippers. Whatever makes you feel the coziest and the most like yourself.

3. Call your mom. Or your dad. Or your grandma. Or your best friend. Anyone that will make you smile and feel normal about having a rough day.

4. Watch a mindless television show. Keeping Up With the Kardashians or Say Yes to the Dress or Duck Dynasty. Whatever floats your boat. Just make it something that doesn’t make you think. For the most part you should try not to make this a habit. But on a shitty day like the one you’re having, watch as many guilty-pleasure shows as you’d like.

5. Buy your favorite candy on the way home from work. Or your favorite bottle of wine. Or both. Consume them as quickly as you damn well please. Because your day sucked.

6. Read an old text exchange between you and someone you care about. Just to make you laugh, or remember a funny night you had, or both. Something that will make you feel normal again and remind you that bad days will come and go. You’ll be okay.

7. Keep a thick blanket wrapped around you all night. Try to look as stupid as possible. The more stupid you look, the more comfortable you probably feel. Take it from me and wrap it around your head like a veil. Something about being cocooned is comforting and calming.

8. Read some uplifting articles. Pick up that self-help book or just open your computer – there are an abundance of them online. Yes there are plenty of trolls online, but there are also plenty of optimistic people. Hunt these people down and consume their happy thoughts. You’ll feel uplifted and less alone about the bad day you’re having.

9. Chocolate. Just, chocolate.

10. Hum the theme song from Doug. It’s scientifically proven to improve your mood by 67%. I just made up that statistic but you would have believed me either way because it’s a great tune and it’ll make you feel better.

11. Light as many candles as possible, and put them all over your apartment. Dim the lights and let yourself relax and digest the day. Also, try not to start a fire.

12. Start a group text message with some of your best friends. It’s fun to watch your friends banter back and forth, and it almost makes it feel like they’re sitting right next to you. But you still get the benefit of being alone and having the chance to decompress.

13. Listen to “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates. At least once.

14. Give yourself just a little bit of silence. Even if it’s for five minutes. Sit on your couch or lay on your bed and do nothing. You can meditate if you want. Or pray if you’re religious. Or just breathe. It’s such a simple and obvious thing to do, but when we’re constantly being stimulated by things, it’s easy to forget how beneficial silence can be.

15. Read something or watch something happy before you go to bed. Go for your favorite comedy or that exciting novel you just started. Make it something that will allow your thoughts to wander for a decent amount of time. Give yourself a break from whatever it is that caused you so much stress today, and enter someone else’s world for a minute.

16. Go to bed early. This is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. When you’re exhausted, everything seems much worse than it is. Tomorrow might still be a difficult day, but it will be a hell of a lot better than today if you get a good night’s sleep.