Good Morning! Now Where’s the Nonsense? ☕️

Do you ever wake up and somehow just know the day is going to be a rough one? Nothing has actually happened yet. You haven't spilled your coffee, nobody has annoyed you, and your computer hasn't decided it needs to install 47 updates before allowing you to do anything productive. Technically, everything is fine. And yet… there it is. That feeling. You look at the clock, take a sip of coffee, and your brain quietly whispers, “Oh, this is going to be a day.”

I don't necessarily mean the kind of day where everything goes catastrophically wrong. Those are easy to identify. I'm talking about the weird days. The days where things are just… off. For me, one of the biggest warning signs is work. There are days when the requests coming in are perfectly normal. You read them, understand what someone needs, take care of it, and move along with your life. Then there are the other days. The days when the requests start coming in and you find yourself staring at the screen thinking, “Wait. What?”

You read it again. Still what. You read it a third time because surely you missed something. Nope. Still what. At that point, you start wondering if somebody accidentally sent you a request intended for an entirely different universe. And then another one comes in. “Oh, good,” you think. “We're doing this today.” 

It's funny how quickly you can recognize the pattern. One odd request? No big deal. Two slightly annoying requests? Okay, perhaps somebody is just having a day. Three requests that make absolutely no sense? The universe has entered the chat. Suddenly, every little thing feels harder than it should. The computer takes just a little too long to open something. A file refuses to cooperate. Someone sends a message that could have been explained in three sentences but somehow requires twelve back-and-forth responses. You go to do one simple task and discover that it has apparently evolved into a full-scale research project.

And that's when you know. This isn't going to be a “get everything done and feel accomplished” kind of day. This is going to be a “how many times can I stare into the middle distance before somebody notices?” kind of day. 

The strange thing is that sometimes I think we recognize these days before we can actually explain why. Maybe it's intuition. Maybe it's experience. Maybe we've simply lived through enough chaotic Tuesdays to recognize the warning signs. Or maybe our brains are just really good at pattern recognition. Whatever it is, I swear there are mornings when I can practically feel the nonsense lining up outside my door.

And here's the important part: I don't necessarily think a day like this has to become a bad day. Sometimes it's just going to be an annoying day. There is a difference. A bad day can involve something genuinely difficult or upsetting. An annoying day is when you spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking, “Why are we making this so complicated?” Those days require a completely different survival strategy.

Coffee helps. Sarcasm helps more. And occasionally, you just have to laugh. Because what else are you going to do when you receive a request that makes you question whether you have accidentally wandered into an episode of The Twilight Zone: Corporate Edition? 

I've also learned that fighting the weirdness usually doesn't help. Sometimes you just have to accept that today is apparently going to be one of those days. Take a breath. Answer the ridiculous request. Fix whatever needs fixing. Roll your eyes when appropriate. Drink your coffee. And keep moving.

Because eventually, the day ends. And tomorrow might be completely different. Tomorrow, the requests might make sense. The computer might cooperate. People might actually provide all the information you need the first time. You might even make it through an entire morning without thinking, “You have got to be kidding me.” Hey, miracles happen.

So, tell me… do you ever wake up already feeling like you're headed toward a rough day? Maybe it's a strange feeling you can't explain. Maybe it's the first annoying thing that happens. Maybe it's the third completely bizarre request that lands in your inbox and makes you question your career choices. Or maybe you simply take one look at your calendar and think, “Yeah… we're going to need more coffee.”

Whatever your warning sign is, I'd love to hear about it. Because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who occasionally looks at the day ahead and thinks, “Well, this ought to be interesting.”