Here are a few signs that a tough day has smacked you directly in the face:

1.) You sat down at your desk at 8:30 AM and did not move until 6:45 PM.

2.) You passed a puppy on the street and didn’t even stop because you were so busy.

3.) A trip to the office snack drawer was the best part of your day.

Sound familiar? Yeah…tough days are terrible. And the truth is you really can’t avoid having them every once in a while. But you can work to forget about them!

Here are seven simple things you can do at home to erase the mark of a tough day:

1. Keep Bath Salts Handy

You would be surprised how much stress and frustration can be fixed with a warm bath. Add some soothing salts to the mix, and you’re on your way to Chill-Out Town. If your current bath salt stockpile is low, ScoutMob is a great place to find different scents. Anything with sage or lavender is going to be especially good at taking the edge off.

Tip: Making your own personal bath bombs is pretty easy! Here’s our step-by-step guide.

2. Prepare a Room with No Screens, and Lots of Music

We’ve talked about how electronics and screens can disrupt your sleep, but they also prevent you from de-stressing. Your favorite music, on the other hand, will lower your blood pressure and decrease stress hormones. Sounds pretty great, right?

If you have a spare room, get some music up in that beast and keep the TV, laptop, iPad and phone far away. Come home, grab yourself an adult beverage, and listen to some music for an hour or so. May we recommend Taylor Swift’s jam Shake It Off?

3. Kiss Someone

According to a study conducted by Northwestern University, an emotionally charged, ten-second kiss will release a ton of endorphins and make you feel better almost immediately. So when the Day from Hell strikes, suck some face. It doesn’t even need to lead to sex – just enjoy the kiss!

4. Set Yourself Up for a Repetitive Action

Our bodies really dig repetition. It’s one of the reasons that people find things like knitting and praying with a rosary to be so relaxing. If those two activities aren’t really your thing, here are two more ideas:

1. Do a craft. This post has 10 DIY wine cork projects – number three and seven are repetition city.

2. Sweep or mop your floors (it helps to do the whole “wax on, wax off” thing from The Karate Kid).

You may feel silly at first, but give it a shot. We bet you’ll wind up feeling a lot more relaxed than if you’d just binge-watched a Netflix show or ate a pint of ice cream (or both).

5. Put Away Your Dishes

One nice thing about mornings: usually nothing terrible has happened to you yet. Take advantage of this boon! Make a habit of emptying your dishwasher (or clearing out the sink) prior to leaving the house. That way, if fate craps on you during the day, you can at least rustle up a clean plate, fork and cup for wine without much struggle.

6. Treat Yourself

At the end of a long day, treat yourself with a taste of something sweet. Eating something sweet actually pauses the production of the stress hormone glucocorticoid, so you feel better pretty much immediately. A little bit can go a long way! One small peppermint candy or piece of chocolate has the same effect as a large slice of cake. 

7. Walk Around the Block

After a rough day, it's temping to pour a tall glass of wine and veg out with your favorite Netflix show. Before you settle on the couch for the night, force yourself to take a ten minute jaunt around the neighborhood. Even a slow walk will boost endorphins, which will reduce stress hormones. Bonus points if you leave your phone at home! 

Information provided by BrightNest.com.

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