Weathering the Blows: How to Stay on Track When Work Hits You Hard

We’ve all had those weeks. The kind where one thing goes wrong…and then another…and then, just when you think it’s over, something else sneaks in and punches you in the gut. You miss a deadline. A customer sends a scathing email. You get critical feedback on something you really tried hard on. Maybe you lose a deal you’d been quietly pinning your quarter on.

And worst of all? The calendar doesn’t care. Your meetings still go ahead. Your tasks still sit there in Outlook, waiting. If you work from home, you don’t even have the catharsis of a drink with a colleague or a moan in the conference room with someone who gets it.

So what do you do? How do you carry on with the rest of your work—and your week—when a part of you would rather just curl up, close the laptop, and hide under the duvet?

Name the Blow

It might sound silly, but it sometimes helps to name the moment. Say it out loud to yourself. “That stung.” Or: “That one really knocked the wind out of me.” Try writing it down in your notes, like:

Thursday 10:40am: Lost the Prospectus account. Bloody annoyed.

Why? Because part of what makes a blow linger is the mental swirl. If you don’t name it, it seeps into everything. You find yourself snapping at a colleague on Teams or procrastinating for hours, and you don’t quite know why.

Naming it gives the emotion a container. A mental file box. And it makes it easier to move on to the next thing.

Give It a Boundary

When you get a piece of bad feedback, lose a deal, or whatever else hits you, give yourself permission to dwell—but only for a bit. Set a timer for ten or fifteen minutes and allow yourself to really feel it. Brood if you need to. Go for a brisk walk round the corner, text someone about how crap it was, or just sit at the kitchen table with a second coffee and a thousand-yard stare. Whatever you need.

But when the timer goes off? Time for a clean break. Stand up, change rooms, close the email tab, open the next task. Even if you're not ‘over it’, act like you’ve drawn a line. Because honestly, for me, some of the best work I’ve done has come right after one of those moments—when I’ve shaken off the need to be perfect and just focused on doing the next thing well.

Don’t Let the Blow Drive the Bus

Here’s something I’ve learned the hard way: if I let a bad moment steer my day, I make worse decisions. I start sending hasty emails. I question the structure of a proposal that was actually fine. Or worse, I get in my head and bring bad energy into a prospect call.

Don’t let that last blow drive the bus. It’s not in charge. You are.

Have a Reset Ritual

Find yourself a few small rituals that help you re-centre:

• Change location: Move to a different part of the house for your next task or call. Even sitting at the dining table instead of the desk helps.

• Clean something: Wipe the counter. Straighten the sofa cushions. Sounds daft, but it gives you a small ‘win’ and makes you feel more in control.

• Audio cue: Have a short playlist—four or five tracks—that you can play when you need to shake things off. Something upbeat, something grounding. No lyrics about failure, obviously!

Find your own version. Something that says: “New chapter. Let’s go.”

Keep Talking to People

One danger of working remotely is that it’s so easy to withdraw when things go wrong. You don’t want to look unprofessional or mopey. But keeping things bottled up makes them worse.

You don’t have to dump your entire emotional state into Teams, but send a message to a trusted colleague. Something like:

“Hey, had a bit of a crap morning—will explain later. Just trying to reset for the rest of the day.”

You'll often find that even just writing that makes you feel less alone. You’re signalling to yourself that you’re processing, not collapsing.

Use It Later

This is a longer-term mindset shift, but it’s powerful: everything bad that happens is future material. If you’re in a leadership role, that unfair complaint will one day be a perfect example when you're training someone new. If you’re a creative or a writer, it might become a story (hey, I can confirm…this blog post is that story!). If you’re in sales, it’ll sharpen your nose for the signs a deal might be slipping.

You don’t need to pretend it’s a ‘blessing in disguise’ right away. But just remind yourself: “This will become useful. Later.”

Maintain the Basics

When a bad work moment hits, it’s tempting to throw everything out the window. Skip lunch. Cancel meetings. Let the task list rot.

Instead, make sure to:

• Do the minimum necessary to keep the wheels turning (email replies, quick updates, any blockers unblocked)

• Keep those calendar boundaries in place—especially at the end of the day. Try not to let the blow extend your work hours unnecessarily. If anything, shorten them a bit if you can.

• Eat something decent. It’s basic, but a good sandwich and biscuit can work wonders for perspective!

Write a Two-Line Summary of the Day

If a day’s gone badly, jot down a quick summary of what did go right. For example:

"Lost the deal, but handled it with grace. Delivered the finance pack on time and took a long walk at lunch."

"Bad review, but followed up professionally and didn’t let it derail the client call."

It’s like your own mini-performance review. And over time, these tiny records build resilience. You’ll see just how many days you got through with grit.

Final Thought

Bad days, setbacks, and stinging feedback are inevitable. Especially in knowledge work. Especially in hybrid work, where you don’t always get the same emotional cues and support. But what you can do is learn how to steady yourself when the waves hit…and keep paddling.

And who knows? Tomorrow might just bring a win.