Almost every morning, I grab a refreshing Coca-Cola Cherry Zero from the vending machine in the office. The morning I’m writing this is no different. I walk out, grab my Coke Cherry Zero, and pay for it. All is good in the world. I return to my desk. I crack the lid on the bottle. […]
Almost every morning, I grab a refreshing Coca-Cola Cherry Zero from the vending machine in the office. The morning I’m writing this is no different. I walk out, grab my Coke Cherry Zero, and pay for it. All is good in the world.
I return to my desk. I crack the lid on the bottle. There’s a refreshing fizz that is released. I know it’s going to be a good day.
Until it wasn’t.
Photo by Andrew Kenney on Unsplash
I set the uncapped bottle on my desk. I move my hand and knock the bottle over. The brown, sticky, syrupy liquid spilled all over my desk. It landed on my keyboard and mouse, Microsoft Surface Studio laptop, tools, and more that were exposed. I began to clean up only to spill more of the pop on my desk and belongings… Ugh. This day is not going as I planned.
It was a mess! It was the start of my day. It could have shaped the rest of my day if I’d let it.
But I resolved to have a good day. And I did.
Here’s what I did to turn a frustrating start into an excellent finish.
What To Do When Your Day Doesn’t Go As Planned
Act quickly:
When something goes wrong or not as planned, act quickly. Don’t sit around staring at what’s happening. Jump in and prevent further damage.
Had I waited to clean up the spilled pop, the pop would have soaked into more items. Maybe even damaging them. Because of quick action, I could stop the spread, clean up what had been touched by the issue, and get things up and running relatively quickly.
You can do the same. If you have an emergency meeting pop up, take action on it. Don’t let it linger. Begin to reschedule what was on the docket. Or you might have someone quit on you without notice. Work on finding a replacement as soon as possible.
The quicker you act, the sooner the issue will be resolved and you can get your day back on track.
Remind yourself it’s a moment in time:
Whenever things don’t go as planned, it’s easy to see it as a world-shattering event. Your day has to be shifted, you might have to purchase new equipment, or you find yourself in the lurch. These singular moments can feel like a lifetime.
They’re not. They’re just a moment in time.
Your life will go on. You’ll continue to do your work. You might even quickly forget about what happened.
It’s because it’s all a point in time that you can move on from.
Find a quick win:
Finding a quick win is one way to quickly move on and get your day back on track. A win might be handling a massive influx of emails, calming down an irate employee, or winning a level of Candy Crush.
Quick wins can refocus our minds. They tell us that the temporary loss, pain, and frustration will go away. There’s something else coming your way. And it’s good.
Do your best to find a quick win when your day goes sideways. The quicker you do this, the sooner you move forward.
Move forward:
Speaking of which, you need to be able to move forward when your day doesn’t go as planned. You can do this as you remember the previous steps. They all lead up to this key factor: move forward.
When you act quickly, you’re taking a step to move forward. When you remember these moments are temporary, you’re choosing to move forward. By finding a quick win, you move yourself forward.
You can’t stay stuck in the past. You have to find a way to move forward. As you do, the memory of your ruined day will be in the rearview mirror.
