Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to take one day at a time

to take one day at a time

3.6
Focus on today and do not worry about the future
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : vivir un día a la vez
  • When facing tough times, it's important to take one day at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Examples

  • To manage expectations and decrease frustration, some participants tried to take one day at a time.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Just take one day at a time.

    Fortress: Sniper's Eye (2022)

  • You just have to take one day at a time.

    No Letting Go (2016)

  • So I say you gotta take one day at a time, you know?

    Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo (2019)

  • She said, "We're just taking one day at a time."

    Blog text (12)

  • Strategies to adjust their expectations included reappraising personal abilities, taking one day at a time, and accepting help.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Former carers revealed that they struggled to cope after the death of the patient and spoke about taking one day at a time to cope with their situation.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Participants who were able to come to terms with and adapt to their new capacity used strategies such as accepting help and taking one day at a time, adjusting their personal expectations.

    Academic text (2010)

  • After losing his job, he decided to take one day at a time and focus on finding new opportunities gradually.

  • She reminded herself to take one day at a time during her recovery from surgery.

Synonyms

to take as it comes
vsto take one day at a time
  • Informal
6 5.0

Accept what happens calmly and do not worry

focuses on handling each day rather than each event
to take each challenge as they come
vsto take one day at a time
  • Informal
5.2

Deal with problems one at a time as they happen

focuses on daily steps instead of resolving only problems

Antonyms

to worry about
∞ 2.0

Feel afraid about what might happen to someone or something

How Calm

to calm
962 1.0
to take one day at a time
  • Informal
3.6
to cope
272 2.9
worry
290 1.0
to panic
272 2.3

Surface Forms

take one day at a time infinitive
taking one day at a time present participle
takes one day at a time third person singular
took one day at a time past
taken one day at a time past participle

Morphology

take + one + day + at + a + time

The literal parts ('take', 'one', 'day', 'at', 'a', 'time') combine to suggest handling things in single-day units, so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer the general idea of dealing with problems day by day. However, the phrase functions as a conventionalized, metaphorical piece of advice (rather than a purely compositional instruction) and the pragmatic nuance ('manage stress by focusing on today') may not be fully predictable without exposure or context.

Etymology

Take one day at a time may come from the picture of a traveller on a long road who keeps going by taking each day as a single step and resting at night. So, it now means 'to deal with problems by focusing on today and not worrying about the future'.