Getting Through The Day
- Kenneth Pecoraro
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
Free Icebreaker Included • Full Worksheet + Video for Members
When “just making it” is actually a skill
Some days don’t call for growth, breakthroughs, or big life changes.
Some days call for one thing only: getting through the day without making things worse.
If you’ve ever woken up already behind emotionally—overwhelmed, anxious, unmotivated, craving relief, or just plain exhausted—you’re not alone. And more importantly, you’re not failing.
Needing “get-through-the-day” strategies doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re responding realistically to stress, emotional pain, or depletion. Research on coping, stress regulation, and behavioral momentum consistently shows that lowering the bar during high-stress periods is adaptive, not avoidant.
That’s the foundation of the Getting Through the Day worksheet and companion video.
Free Resource: Icebreaker – Rough Starts
The Free Tier includes the first page of the worksheet in PDF form, featuring the Rough Starts icebreaker.
This icebreaker is designed to immediately normalize struggle and lower defenses—especially in group settings. It starts light and relatable (annoying mornings, bad timing, small frustrations) and gradually opens the door to more serious mental health and substance-use-related struggles.
It works well for:
Group check-ins
Early-morning or low-energy groups
Clients who struggle to articulate what’s “wrong”
Creating quick universality and engagement
Sometimes the most therapeutic thing you can do at the start of a session is help people realize: “It’s not just me, and this kind of day happens to everyone.”
FREE GETTING THROUGH THE DAY "ROUGH STARTS" WORKSHEET:
Member Resource: Full Worksheet + Group Video
Taking the Escalator Members get access to the complete Getting Through the Day worksheet, which expands far beyond the icebreaker and turns a rough morning into a practical, skills-based conversation.
The full worksheet walks through a set of 24-hour coping strategies—tools meant to help someone stabilize, function, and move forward without demanding motivation they don’t have.
Included coping strategies cover:
Time-based coping (one day, one hour, break-to-break)
Exit plans that encourage trying without punishment
Future relief as a realistic motivational anchor
Support plans that don’t require deep emotional labor
Meaning and perspective (spiritual or values-based)
Summit identification (naming the hardest part of the day)
To-do lists and low-hanging fruit
Supportive self-talk that isn’t fake or harsh
A key theme throughout the worksheet is flexibility. Not every strategy works for every personality or situation. The goal isn’t to convince people a skill should work—it’s to help them recognize when and why a skill might work best.
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