I’ll admit it – last week was less than stellar for me. It seemed every time I typed a sentence, I mucked it up. Not major mucking up, but enough that by Friday I was afraid to write on a birthday card. I missed a spell-check-induced error, which switched an acronym to a word, which in turn sent the client into a short tizzy. Feedback from another client was that my submission rambled a bit. One client has been incommunicado for a few weeks and I’m more than a little concerned as to why. But I’m sticking with my rule. I ask three times for feedback, then I surrender it to the editorial gods.
Another client issue had a quoted source in trouble – the oversight he thought he had (and I thought he had) suddenly didn’t exist and his professional reputation within his company was poised on the brink as a result. I don’t care what protocol is for clients – I don’t ruin careers because of them. So I spent a few hours modifying the end product in order to save his neck and make my client happy. It worked out, but it was tension I didn’t need at the end of a long week full of little tensions.
I had a weird phone encounter at the end of last week in which the caller said his name – twice – but wouldn’t spell his last name for me. He’s a potential client interested in hiring an editor for a confidential project, so his avoidance of his name, while it put me off at first, made sense after I’d thought about it. While I know next-to-nothing about his project, I know a lot about him. First, he respects other professionals. He asked me what my rate was – he didn’t dictate the “We’re paying this” line. He asked for estimates based on hypothetical projects, and he guarded the secrecy of his project (and possibly his client) well. That speaks to good character, in my opinion. If he calls back, I’m interested. But that the initial weirdness of the call came as I was trying to slough off a bad week sort of emphasized the heightened level of craziness I’d been dealing with all week. Not that he was crazy – that my week was crazy.
So after my emotional meltdown Friday night, I decided I wasn’t carrying that noise with me into the new week. I went about erasing my mental chalkboard and getting rid of the bad stuff. First, I meditated. Nothing settles my brain like a release of the tension, pain, fears, anxieties, and stresses. As I sat there, I envisioned the week I wanted to have this week – I filled my head with confidence, smiles, competence, and attention to detail. Also, on Sunday I attended a baby-naming ceremony in Maryland, which was full of more meditation and singing/dancing. The beauty of that ceremony was the punctuation I needed at the end of my new sentence. This week is better – so far, so good.
So what do you do when you have a lousy day or a lousy week?
I'm right on the verge of just such a meltdown today. I'm mentally fatigued. I've spent the past couple of weeks deep in the psyches of some dark characters. And trying to keep the deadlined projects on track.
Last night, I dumped an essay 20 minutes before deadline and started over. Wrote it, polished it, got it in on time, but it's not the way I like to work.
Noticed last night and this morning that I'm making lots of typos, especially in my Tweets, and I think I should probably just shut up for the day.
I'm mentally exhausted, and everything is hitting me the wrong way, so the best thing to do is not engage and replenish.
Fortunately, there's Olympic hockey pretty much all afternoon, so that should help.
Part of me wants to keep pushing and not lose momentum; the rest is saying it's time to be a grown up and step back.
"So what do you do when you have a lousy day or a lousy week?"
Down three pints of lager in quick succession. Hey, I'm British – what else do you expect?! (Come to think of it, that's also what I do after a great week).
Actually, learning to meditate is on my to-do list this year, which I hope will help me cope with the neuroses of being a lonely writer. Perhaps you can share your tips and techniques with us, Lori?
Nothing cures typo fever like hockey, Devon. I agree! I saw on your blog your mention of wrestling that essay to the ground. Sometimes they don't go willingly, do they?
Clare, move over! Make room at the bar for me. I'm of Irish descent – we're not exactly known for our tea drinking. 😉
Meditation can be as simple as visualizing the release (I see it as a melting off) of tensions, stress, worries, everything. I envision sitting quietly on a beach, my tension melting off me and leeching into the sand. And I breathe slowly. It helps. And everyone will have a different way of doing it. Whatever works!
"So what do you do when you have a lousy day or a lousy week?"
Phone my sister or a good friend and cry on their shoulders. They're good at helping keep me centred.
I go for distractions. Yesterday it was a quick 10-minute doggie walk in the snow. Sometimes it's knitting. And when I'm really stressed and it's coming out in my work, I'll clean.
I'm not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination, but there's something about literally getting your house in order that makes everything else fall into place. Dusting or vacuuming doesn't cut it. I'm talking scrubbing-the-floor, organizing a closet, or cleaning the basement. Apparently I haven't been too stressed lately because all of those things need to be done again. I predict I'll have a spotless house come tax time.
It kind of depends on what occurred to make it a lousy day or week, but for the most part, I throw myself a pity party. I get quite good at that sometimes.
Once I'm done beating myself up for the mistakes I made; I can then move on to figuring out how to avoid it in the future.
Surprised I didn't melt down last week. It was a very hard week. I got through it by getting take out more than usual and watching several great shows on DVD with my husband.
Here's my hokey answer…
I never have a bad day. Oh, things might stink up until 5, but then my wife the little ones get home and it's basically impossible to stay grumpy.
The next day usually doesn't carry much baggage.
My cure for the lousy week/day blues? Get yourself a 5 year-old and an 11-month old. Mix in a good spouse and you're golden. Every day.
It's Mardi Gras, baby. Give it up for Lent.
My best response to stress is a good long walk – weather permitting.
What do I do I do when I have a lousy week? I forgive myself.
Sorry -one -I do -would have been enough. Hey, I'm forgiving myself for that one too.
Seems like "icky" was in the air last week…by Friday, I was on the verge of a meltdown the likes of which I haven't felt since before I quit my cubefarm job 3 years ago. But this is a new week, and we shall persevere…
Carson, I can beat that feeling – my kids have grown into great people. 🙂
Damaria, my sister gets an earful, too. 🙂
Paula, I do the major housecleaning when I'm angry. I can tear through a houseful of dirt in ten minutes when I'm ticked. Unfortunately I haven't been upset lately, so we're living in squallor. LOL
I like the pity party idea, Wendy. I have you taken it to the party hats and streamers extreme yet? Wouldn't that be fun? It would be a cool way to snap yourself out of it. 🙂
Meryl, like you I got lost in movies. Saw some good ones and some odd ones. But the attention was diverted.
Joseph, great idea! Toss some beads over this way.
Same here, Tammi. Trouble is our trails are under a few feet of snow right now, but I agree. That's a great diversion.
Journaling Woman, I'm glad you've forgiven yourself. I kinda like lots of posts. 🙂 But great idea – we don't often allow ourselves to make mistakes, do we?
Go get 'em, Amie. 😉