Today, I made the effort to get to work early in order to get a few things done before what I knew would be a busy day. I don't mind being busy, in fact, I structure most of my life in a way that intentionally creates a busy schedule.
I don't know when the shift happened, but somewhere within the first 30 minutes I was at work my attitude started to subtly change and the funk settled in. I wasn't able to attribute my increasing gloominess or foul mood to any one factor--but it was there and I new the day would turn black quickly if I didn't make some adjustments.
I have the reputation as being very intimidating to most of my students and today's rapid fire questioning, snappy comments and overall foul mood only seemed to scare some of them more.
To lift the mood, I gave myself a break during lunch, locked the door, kicked out the students and spent a few minutes listening to some mood enhancing music. In addition, I used my favorite Tony Robbins trick to change my state--I spent two minutes with the wildest grin on my face staring at the ceiling--I dare you to keep your foul mood after trying this little strategy! I also had a little sugar, which helped give me the slight energy boost I needed. The combination of activities did the trick and after lunch I was happier, calmer and in a much better mood.
What do you do to lift a bad mood?