50 Times People Had Such A Horrible Day At Work, It Might Make Yours Look Not As Bad (New Pics)

"Bad luck… it happens to the best of us. A healthy response is to reframe the experience—ask what you learned, not just what went wrong. Use self-compassion, not self-criticism, and focus on your strengths to regain momentum. Even bad days can build resilience and remind us we're more than one moment," Wellman shared with Bored Panda via email.

"Another tool is to celebrate the snafus—as odd as that sounds. Start a 'Book of Bad Calls' or a 'List of Bad Luck' and record the foibles; this isn’t to ruminate over what went wrong, but rather to look back later and laugh at the thing that was once so burdensome. It can help provide a healthy perspective that 'this bad luck, too, shall pass.'"

We were also interested to get Wellman's perspective about learning to handle chronic work-related stress better. "To build resilience to chronic work stress, the school of positive psychology encourages practices that boost well-being and mental agility," Wellman said.

"I know—it sounds easier to say than do. But there are a few tried and true tips:

1. Start by identifying and using your signature strengths daily—they create a sense of competence and control. We like to feel smart and in the driver’s seat when things feel bananas.
2. Cultivate positive emotions through gratitude, mindfulness, and moments of joy to buffer against burnout. Have you started that gratitude journal yet?
3. Build strong relationships at work for support and perspective. How about being the one to arrange a happy hour with your colleagues, to blow off steam?
4. And reframe stressors as challenges you can grow from, not threats you must avoid. Resilience, thankfully, grows with practice."

Chronic work stress, anxiety, burnout, and exhaustion have devastating effects on your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. According to the NHS, the main issues that might cause work-related stress, if left unmanaged properly, include:

1. Lack of control over your workload
2. Lack of clarity about responsibilities
3. High demands on your time and energy
4. Fear of redundancy and changes at work
5. Lack of support and poor management
6. Poor relationships with your colleagues
7. Harassment or bullying at work
8. Workplace discrimination

How susceptible you are to workplace stress, as well as how you deal with it, also depends on your upbringing, the experiences you’ve had in life, and your environment.

There are lots of small ways to reduce the stress you feel. Most of them are either related to getting the basics right (i.e., taking better care of your health) or shifting your perspective.

How you perceive tough situations can make a huge difference to how you feel, as can getting lots of proper rest, eating nutritious food, moving lots, spending time with your loved ones, being out in nature, meditating, practicing gratitude, etc.

The NHS suggests first identifying specifically what it is that’s making you stressed at work. Once you’ve done that, focus on the things that you can actually change.

The reality is that many things, like your company’s layoffs and reorganizations, are completely out of our control. And it’s up to you to recognize what’s what.

Do what you can to improve your odds of success, and try to embrace flexibility to weather everything else.

It’s also essential that you find some way of managing your stress in your daily life. You could try breathing slowly and deeply. Or you could try meditating to move past your anxiety.

Having someone trustworthy to turn to when things get tough is also a lifesaver. You can reach out to your family and friends to share some of your worries. Or you can talk to your colleagues and superiors to actually get to the root of the problem.

In small doses, stress can be beneficial because it makes you more alert. It’s when stress becomes chronic that it’s an issue. The NHS suggests building up your resilience, shifting your perspective, and setting boundaries to deal with work-related stress.

“Making a conscious effort to change the way you view an issue or feel about a problem at work could help ease some of the pressure you feel. For instance, if something at work is worrying you, is there a way to look at it that makes more sense? If you really cannot change it, is there a way you can at least accept it and find something you can learn from it?”

Having a job, even a stressful one, feels like a luxury in some industries. It seems like the spread of AI tools continues to worry many white-collar workers. As reported by Futurism, Microsoft has just fired around 9,000 employees.

As bad as it is, the tone-deaf response from Microsoft-owned Xbox executive producer Matt Turnbull recently made headlines. He suggested that laid-off workers should use chatbots to feel better about what happened.

"These are really challenging times, and if you’re navigating a layoff or even quietly preparing for one, you’re not alone and you don’t have to go it alone. No AI tool is a replacement for your voice or your lived experience. But at a time when mental energy is scarce, these tools can help get you unstuck faster, calmer, and with more clarity,” he said.

“I know these types of tools engender strong feelings in people, but l'd be remiss in not trying to offer the best advice I can under the circumstances. I've been experimenting with ways to use [large language model] Al tools (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss."