Bouncing back after a bad week

Everyone has weeks when the routine collapses: you oversleep, miss lectures, eat badly and avoid your inbox. What matters is not avoiding bad weeks, but how quickly you recover from them.

Bad weeks are normal, not a verdict

• Illness, homesickness, a difficult conversation or a heavy deadline can knock any routine over.
• One bad week does not undo the habits you built; in the UCL habit study, missing the occasional day did not seriously harm habit formation.
• The real risk is the 'all-or-nothing' story: 'I have ruined this week, so I may as well give up until next month.'
• Replace it with: 'This week went badly. What is the smallest useful thing I can do today?'

Be kind to yourself, it works better

• In four experiments, Juliana Breines and Serena Chen at UC Berkeley asked people to think about a weakness, a mistake or a failed test, then some were prompted to treat themselves in a compassionate, understanding way (in most studies, by writing to themselves for a few minutes).
• As summarised by psychologist Kelly McGonigal, those participants were more willing to learn from and improve on their weakness or failure, and more optimistic that it could change.
• After failing a hard test, those encouraged to be kind to themselves showed more interest in studying to improve.
• Try talking to yourself as you would to a friend who had the same week: honestly, but without insults (see the Understanding Your Emotions module's lesson on self-compassion).

A 30-minute reset plan

• Minutes 0 to 5: open a window or step outside, drink water, and tidy just your desk.
• Minutes 5 to 15: list everything that is overdue or worrying you, without judging it.
• Minutes 15 to 25: mark the one or two items with the nearest deadline or biggest consequence, and do the first small step of one of them.
• Minutes 25 to 30: send any 'I am behind' emails you need (a short, honest message to a lecturer or manager is far better than silence), and set tomorrow's wake-up time.
• Then restart your routines with only their first two steps for the next few days.

Use a fresh start, but do not wait for one

• Researchers Dai, Milkman and Riis found people are more likely to act on goals after a 'temporal landmark' such as a new week, month or semester.
• They suggest landmarks help people relegate past imperfections to a previous period, which is exactly what you need after a bad week.
• You can create your own landmark: 'From tomorrow morning, week two of term starts for me.'
• But a fresh start next month is not a reason to waste the rest of this month; start small today.

When it is more than a bad week

• If low mood, lack of energy or loss of interest lasts for more than a couple of weeks, or you are struggling to look after yourself, talk to someone.
• Your university wellbeing or counselling service, your GP or clinic, and trusted family members are all good first steps (see the Mental Health module).
• Asking for help early is a sign of good judgement, not weakness.
• If you ever feel unsafe or think about harming yourself, contact emergency services or a crisis line straight away.