Put your head down and work
My dad and I haven’t always had a good relationship, but he’s been an inspiration to me. When I was young, he owned a graphic design business and worked tirelessly--sometimes even staying over and sleeping at his desk. Whatever it took to get the job done.
Back in my 20s, when I was just starting to work as a web freelancer--and whenever we were getting along--he’d often say some version of “sometimes all you can do is put your head down and work”. He’s a man of simple, practical phrases. The kind of phrases you can act on. That one in particular has stayed with me over the years and seems to comes in handy every now and then.
So when I’m feeling stressed, overwhelmed, unsure, frustrated, or unmotivated, I like to forget the “big picture” stuff and just focus on what I can do today to make a bit of progress.
It doesn’t have to be big progress, that takes time. Whether it’s building a new feature, making a video, or helping a user with a question, getting out of my head and into an action-driven mindset tends to help.
Lately, I’ve been dealing with relationship issues, dog troubles, car troubles, and more--but I still make time to move forward, each and every day. I do it because the issues of today won’t be there tomorrow. That is, if I just put my head down and work.
So that’s what I do on those rainy days, whenever I’m feeling off. I show up ready. I make progress. I put my head down and work.