Nicki Ashcroft realized that on days that she's feeling a little bit stressed or subpar, her moodiness can really transfer through to her tutees and negatively impact her sessions. She came up with a few strategies to prevent this on days that she's "moody."
She claims that students can immediately sense when your heart and mind are not in it and that they're going to respond to it in some way. When she finds herself in that position she begins by reminding herself of the other person in the session. This means that in order to be productive, she needed to remember her responsibilities to the student. Next she would begin to sort through cliches. "Start with "if you smile, it will put you and everyone else in a good mood," so make funny faces at yourself in a mirror; eat chocolate; crack a joke..." She also recommends relaxation by breathing in and out or thinking of the writing center as your getaway place. She says to "just think laid back."
I think we've all had days where we came to the writing center in crummy moods for one reason or another, so I found this article to be relatable and helpful in looking past our "bad days."
https://writinglabnewsletter.org/archives/v26/26.5.pdf (page 9)
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