7 Healthy Ways to Quickly Get out of a Bad Mood

Now and again, for some of us, it so happens that our emotions could make sudden switches. We could be jolly one moment, and then BOOM, the slightest tick would trigger our senses to the direct opposite, and we find ourselves in a bad mood.

The strangest things, and equally the obvious things, could act as this bad mood catalyst. Say, for example, a bad mood could be triggered by:

• The beginning of a new month, reminding you of zero achievements of the previous month
• A calendar date that serves you a reminder of a fact you would rather be forgotten
• Math in your head that points out how much (money/ time/ energy…) you spent on something in futility
• Hours after you post on social media and you realized you’ve had only very little likes
• Some cutlery, tool, toothbrush, or footwear that floods your mind about a past lover you never had closure with.
• Day after the birthday of a close friend you forgot to send birthday wishes to
• An outfit you planned for the day only to realize there was a tear, a color patch, or some missing buttons, and the alternative outfit was wrinkled.
• Your car running at full speed for one minute, and then the next there’s a cough from the engine and the car gives up. You had to get it towed and call for a motorcycle to your destination.

The list is unending.

A Bad Mood Can Ruin an Entire Day For You, and Others

The worst experience of this is when you wake up in this awry sort of mood, and you can’t place exactly why or move it to any other kind of okay. The mood just stays rotten and gradually eats you up.

Read also: What makes for a good day?

You find yourself feeling sour about most regular things you never would have given second thoughts about ordinarily – specific colors, room, bathing, watching tv, walking, or simply talking.

Now, what changed? How did it all go south, and why can’t you get your groove back on?! You have tried taking steps backward, recounting details of the night, previous day, or hour, in a poor attempt to figure out when it all changed, just to reverse it.

Ways to Quickly Get out of a bad mood

Here is a checklist of other ways you could try to shake off the bad mood

1. Vent!

You’re entitled to your bad mood. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s overrated, or it’s silly, or there are better things to brood over. As a matter of fact, at that moment, there’s no better thing to brood over than your current brood subject, so get it brooding!

A bad mood can slowly associate with various other negative energies like rage, gloom, misery, and worry. It’s better to shake things off earlier so the mood doesn’t last longer than a couple of minutes or a few hours.

Get towards an unfortunate someone and make them listen to your rage or paranoia, or heart sickness. Better to stumble on someone who wouldn’t make the situation gravy by belittling your emotion. The last thing you need.

But the first thing you need, though, is really to spend off all that negative energy that’s starting to build up or has built up already. Better out of you than bottled up inside. Venting is therapeutic, and get this psychologically approved.

2. Evaluate the past/current situation, the possible gaps, alternatives, and solutions

Maybe this would help, or maybe it wouldn’t help much. But learning how and why you fell off your cheer could make you better at figuring out how to avert it another time.

Related: When Is the Best Time to Deliver Bad News?

If you could analyze why you got moody after getting off mild/ thick traffic. Was the bad mood a result of being stuck in the unnecessary traffic that reminded you how you could have taken a different route if you had your car?

Now if you had charged your phone and you could read a book online, surf the web or go on social media, would you be as frustrated by the traffic?

Could the problem be an extra charging device/ power bank? Because really, there’s no use getting enraged at every delay that’s beyond your control.

Sometimes when you understand how you can correct a situation, your mood could lighten. You would only understand when you take moments to analyze.

3. Flip through your phone photo album

This is only if, in the past, your photos have made you smile. With all assurance, a photo that previously made you laugh could attempt to make you smile when you feel moody.

Especially when there are stories attached to the photos or picture bursts that could form a picture jigsaw puzzle. A friend’s brother’s wedding, a reunion, an old school picture, a picture of a before-and-after of a person, etc

4. Type or write a list of your offenders and assign a punishment to them

As silly as this may seem, at the midpoint of this activity, you could start to cheer up. When you genuinely get into this listing act, you’d find that you’re the writer and director of a movie where you could play the role of a white oppressor.

Offending Act 1

• Pablo canceling plans on me AGAIN

Punishment

• Pablo to grovel on his knees with a new game series and FIFA 11

Sometimes this works like magic, I promise.

5. Listen to a jamming song

Just like pictures could take you down memory lane and build up some good vibes back to your spirit, music does just the same. If not more.

Asides from your mind being reworked ‘back’, you may even begin to forget you were in a pissy mood when your hips start to move to the upbeat music from your playlist. Or when you lipsync to the song, you choose to put on repeat.

6. Ring up someone that usually makes you feel good (or meet up the someone – for lunch or dinner, drinks, etc.)

Sometimes we may not have the luxury of being solo or away at a comfortable place when our moods change. So the constraints would make us linger more in our sour mood.

Say, you cannot readily choose to lighten your mood by listening to some music while you’re at your workplace. Or you don’t have much time to spare flipping through phones and cajoling old memories. Imagine if the mood was caused by being unable to complete your tasks.

It would help if you were around more positive vibes and good-natured, humorous people. Or a friend that keeps you at ease. A text, a call, a plan to meet up, anything to get you connected to the person for a few moments.

There’s no telling what could switch up when your nerves get relaxed, everyone seems kind, and everywhere seems less tense, all by being around people (or someone) that have other moods different from your bad mood and letting it rub off on you.

7. Splurge buy

If nothing seems to work, do yourself a favor and get distracted by purchasing a new item (unless your bad mood was caused by losing your wallet or your purse).

Your new buy may shift the focus away from what’s eating you inside. Especially when you try to set up the product in your house. During the setup, equipment rearrangement, and cloth matching… the activity could slide your mood slowly back to ground zero.

These are most of the prominent and likely-to-be-performed ways to drive your mood to a better place. If you try other forms, I’d really love to know. Could you share them in the comments?