The Science Behind "Having a Bad Day" (and how to solve it)

Re:The Science Behind "Having a Bad Day" (and how to solve it) by Periodic on Friday July 23, 2010 @06:38PM (#1542611)

I've never felt like I've had a "bad luck" day. Part of that might be not believing in luck or making my own. For me, bad days generally occur when my schedule is too tight and I have a cascading failure.

For example, I have a trouble sleeping so when I get up I'm groggy. That makes me late to leave for a meeting, which usually means I'll forget something or have another problem in my rush. I don't have time to stop for coffee, so I'm even less lucid than I usually am. In my grogginess and haste, I take longer to respond to emails and I spent less time mentally answering them before I had to, so that takes longer than I expected. Then I end up with a late lunch. etc.

I find the trick to avoiding bad days is generally just to give myself ample time to recover if something is putting pressure on my schedule.

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Re:The Science Behind "Having a Bad Day" (and how to solve it) by JangoSteve on Friday July 23, 2010 @06:58PM (#1542644)

The fact that you never feel like the world is out to get you, or that things are beyond your control probably gives you a distinct advantage over 99% of people. It is easy for most people (including myself) to fall into that trap.

Then again, there's the study that shows that people who believe in luck tend to lead happier and longer lives. [1]

[1] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/raising-happiness/201003...

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Re:The Science Behind "Having a Bad Day" (and how to solve it) by mason55 on Friday July 23, 2010 @08:51PM (#1542804)

Agreed - My first thought when reading that article is "hm I don't think I've ever experienced the thought of 'I'm having a bad day'"

I also don't believe in luck and spent a long time as a serious poker player which shaped my mind into seeing non-dependent events as they truly are.

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