Short answer: On a bad day, shrink the day. Don’t try to fix it. Check you’re safe, do one small physical thing, tell one person, and keep only what has to happen, at its smallest size. Tomorrow is a separate day. If you’re struggling to cope, the Emergency Kit, NHS 111 or Samaritans on 116 123 can help now.
If you might not be safe right now, stop reading and get help. Call 999 or go to A&E if you’re in immediate danger. Call Samaritans free on 116 123, any time. Text SHOUT to 85258 if you’d rather not speak. Call NHS 111 for urgent advice. The Emergency Kit has these numbers, and numbers for other countries, with no sign-up. Numbers checked September 2026.
Some days are bad for a reason you can name. Some are bad for no reason at all.
Either way, the usual advice tends to arrive with a to-do list attached: go for a run, practise gratitude, reach out, be kind to yourself. On a good day that list is fine. On a bad day it’s one more thing you’re failing at.
This is the other approach. Not a better day. A smaller one.
What counts as a bad day?
Any day when the normal amount of life feels like too much. You’re flat, or wound up, or both. Things that are usually easy have become expensive. You can’t face the washing up, the email, the phone call.
That covers a lot of ground, from a rough night’s sleep to a long hard stretch. This article is for getting through the day in front of you. It isn’t a diagnosis, and it isn’t treatment.
If bad days have become most days, that’s worth talking to your GP about, and there’s more on that below.
What should I do first on a bad day?
Check you’re safe. That comes before anything else in this article.
If you’re in danger, or you don’t feel you can keep yourself safe, the NHS advice is to call 999. For urgent help that isn’t an emergency, call NHS 111 or ask your GP surgery for an urgent appointment. Samaritans are free on 116 123, day or night, and you don’t need a good enough reason to call.
If you’re safe, and it’s an ordinary bad day, carry on.
What is the smallest useful thing I can do?
GROWTH by DESIGN opens with five things for exactly this. They are short on purpose.
- Breathe out for longer than you breathe in. A few times. You don’t have to fix anything in this minute.
- This will change, even if you can’t feel that it will. You don’t have to believe it. It’s true anyway.
- Do one thing. Small and physical. Water. A window. Toast. Feet on the floor. One.
- Tell one person. ‘Today’s bad’ is a complete sentence.
- Tomorrow is a separate day and doesn’t inherit this one.
That’s enough to count as doing something. If you manage all five, you’ve done more than most plans ask of you on a good day.
What about the things that still have to happen today?
Sort them into three piles, on paper if you can.
- Has to happen today. Picking up the children. Taking the medication. The one deadline that can’t move.
- Can wait. Most things. The email that feels urgent and isn’t. The tidying. The decision you’ve been putting off.
- Someone else could do it. More than you think, and asking is allowed.
Then take the first pile and shrink each item to its smallest acceptable size. Dinner can be toast. The deadline can be a short message saying it’ll be tomorrow. The school run can be the school run and nothing else.
This is the same idea as the bad-day version in GROWTH by DESIGN: a smaller version of the thing, decided in advance, that still counts. Today you’re deciding it on the day, which is fine.
The bad-day version. Today’s plan, if you need one: stay safe, drink some water, eat something, do the one thing on the has-to-happen pile, tell one person. That’s a complete day. Anything more is extra.
How do I tell someone without making it a big thing?
Keep it short. You don’t owe anyone an explanation, and you don’t have to know why.
- ‘Rough day. Not up to much. Thought you should know.’
- ‘Having a bad one. Could you do the tea tonight?’
- ‘Not great today. Can we talk tomorrow instead?’
If there’s nobody you want to tell, Samaritans will listen on 116 123. You can also text SHOUT to 85258 if talking feels like too much.
The point isn’t to get it fixed. It’s so you aren’t carrying it on your own. It also lets one other person adjust what they expect from you today.
What should I not do on a bad day?
A few things tend to make a bad day heavier.
- Reviewing your whole life. A bad day is a poor vantage point for judging the last ten years. Put the big questions on paper and look at them another day.
- Making up for it tomorrow. Tomorrow is a separate day. It doesn’t owe today anything, and today doesn’t need paying back.
- Starting a new regime. Bad days produce resolutions. Leave them. Change works better when it’s planned on a steadier day.
- Keeping score. One bad day isn’t a pattern, and it isn’t a verdict on you.
When is a bad day more than a bad day?
When it’s most days. When low mood has lasted more than two weeks and isn’t lifting. When it’s getting in the way of work, sleep, eating or looking after yourself or others. Or when you’re having thoughts of harming yourself.
Any of those is a good reason to talk to your GP. The NHS suggests seeing a GP if you’ve had a low mood for more than two weeks. If it feels urgent, call NHS 111 or ask for an urgent GP appointment. If you’re in danger, call 999.
None of that is a failure. Asking for help at the right moment is using the right tool.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do on a bad mental health day?
Check you’re safe first. Then keep the day small: drink some water, eat something, do the one thing that has to happen, and tell one person. If you’re struggling to cope, call NHS 111 or Samaritans on 116 123. If you’re in danger, call 999.
Is it OK to do nothing on a bad day?
Doing very little is often the right plan. Keep yourself safe, eat, drink and do only what has to happen. Rest isn’t a failure. If doing nothing becomes most days, talk to your GP.
How do I get through a bad day at work?
Do the must-do tasks at their smallest acceptable size, and move what can wait. If you feel able to, tell your manager or a colleague you’re having a rough day. You don’t have to give a reason.
When should I get help for bad days?
If bad days have become most days, or low mood has lasted more than two weeks, talk to your GP. Do the same if bad days are stopping you working, sleeping or eating. For urgent help call NHS 111. If you might not be safe, call 999 or Samaritans on 116 123. Numbers checked September 2026.
Read next: Feeling burnt out? What to do when you’re running on empty and How to build a habit when you’re exhausted.
The Emergency Kit is free, open to everyone, and asks for nothing: no email, no account, no code. It has helplines for the UK and five other countries, and five steps for the next ten minutes, as a page and a printable PDF.