7 Lifehacks for Beating Back a Bad "Mental Health Day"

Yes, bad mental health days happen even for hackers. I had one last week. And I'll tell you how I turned it around in about 45 minutes.

I had been stressed about more than a few things. To name a few...

• Business has not been great lately.
• I hadn't slept great the night before (it happens, even to sleep hackers sometimes).
• There are some exciting but intimidating pivots I'm in the midst of making with my business (which involves a lot of work and learning some new things).
• And the looming threat of nuclear war (in the part of the world where my little family lives!)

Then, my wife made a perfectly understandable, concerned comment while rushing out the door to attend to matters in Sofia, which set me off.

 So, I dove into work with ferocious intensity. But I was less productive than I wanted to be. My MacBook was dragging a bit (it needed an optimization which it received), a Brazilian guy messaged me who was excited to read my book for men but my e-commerce store was broken because of a really annoying issue with my new hosting company (so I sent him the book for free - and the store is now fixed, by the way), and some new AI toolsI'm experimenting with were frustratingly not delivering the creative vision I had in my head.
When my wife came home a few hours later, it was time to deal with one of my least favorite things in the world: customs paperwork for importing supplements. Getting a package of Biohacking goodness in the EU is often like negotiating with a very litigious demon for the release of your soul from purgatory! My wife is great; she handles most of the unpleasant mess of paperwork this entails, but she had a lot of questions to ask me about the package, interrupting what I was trying to do.

Standing in front of my laptop (facing way too many open browser tabs), seething at the world, I realized I was about to blow up at my wife and her small barky dog (my little frenemy here in our abode). I had promised her and myself earlier this year that I'd handle my anger better and that blow-up episodes were behind me, along with explaining to her that sometimes, I needed her to stop talking and give me space. So that's what I did, and it was really time to close my laptop.

I sat down in the chair where I meditate, slipped on my headphones, put a calming Brain.FM binaural beat on in my headphones, and I just breathed. Slow in the through the nose filling my belly, slow out the mouth. After 10-15 minutes, I returned to my senses. It was time for a little positive self-talk, so I reviewed the last few days; they had been stressful, but actually, I got a lot of important things done, almost all the important things. All things considered, I was doing pretty well as a husband and entrepreneur this week. And there was a lot of reason for optimism about this year (except for the nuclear war concern, which is a good thing I got a stash of "Nuke Pills" - Potassium Iodide). So, I borrowed a bit from Dr. Joe Dispenza's transformative meditation and began future-casting gratitude. In faith, I raised my hands and quietly praised my Creator (in advance) for the beautiful life waiting for me, where my efforts would come to fruition. After about 30 minutes of that, I was back to cool cat Jonathan.

Then, it was time to do a coaching call with one of my favorite clients. The client was also struggling with life a bit; I listened attentively, and I think I was able to provide some insight, inspiration, clarity, and out-of-the-box solutions.It ended up being a downright decent day.

To summarize, what works when compounding stress and to-dos push you to the boiling point?

• Know when to get off the damn computer or your "smart" device.
• Establish a rule with your loved ones or domestic partners - sometimes, you need silence and privacy.
• Have a designated private space for relaxation - go there.
• Binaural beats are a game-changer for mood - have some just a few clicks or swipes away at any given time.
• Take 5-10 minutes just to breathe - I know it's boring, but it works!
• Positive self-talk - praise yourself for what you've done right recently.
• Then, future-cast gratitude - be thankful for the life you'll have.

Hopefully, you can borrow from my tool kit when you inevitably find yourself on the verge of a blow-up, meltdown, or panic attack.