How to keep your cool on the worst days

Some days really do feel cursed. 

I recently came back to the office after having a baby and being away for a few months. After sleeping poorly the other day, I started my morning by spilling my coffee (yay), tripping over the dog — and in the process of all of that, waking up my five-month-old who had just gotten back to sleep. Just when I should have been catching up on the news of the day and fielding the day’s first emails and Slack messages, it took me everything to avoid snapping.

In her latest piece, Vox Even Better correspondent Allie Volpe explores why bad days have a way of snowballing, and, more importantly, how to stop them before they take everyone else down with them. Drawing on psychology research and practical strategies from an anger expert, she offers four simple ways to interrupt the spiral, regain a sense of control, and keep one rough day from becoming a rough week.

This is the kind of reporting I appreciate most at Vox — advice that helps all of us navigate the messy reality of everyday life. After reading Allie’s piece, I took a deep breath and admitted that my day was off to a crabby start — and then I reset. Her piece quite literally saved my day. If that kind of journalism helps you make sense of life and navigate it a little better, becoming a Vox Member is one of the best ways to support more of it.

—Paige Vega, editorial director

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