Confession: you’re not the only one who has bad days.

It’s a creative Thing, they say. An “artistic temperament” has your mood cycling up and down – one minute you’re inspired and creative and you’re going to change the world, and the next minute you’re despairing and can’t seem to tie your own shoelaces.

Now, an aside: if you’re having serious mental health difficulties, of COURSE you must seek professional assistance and get the help you need, and I encourage you to do so. Please, please take care of yourself.

But what about the rest of us? Of course you can lean on your friends when times are truly hard, but you might not want to rely on them to rescue you every single time you wobble. What if you’re just frustrated by the standard size emotional rollercoaster, and you want to get off it in a self-sufficient way without bothering others with your artistic flail-a-thon every other day?

Here’s what I do to manage most of the hard days – and it’s ridiculously simple.