I had what I’d call a stalled day the other day. Stalled is one of the five kinds of stuck in The Stuck Spectrum™.

The day before, I’d been productive. Focused. Things were moving. Then I woke up and felt… ugh. Not quite myself. Fuzzy-headed. Unmotivated. I had things I needed to do. I just couldn’t seem to get myself to do them.

My first feeling was guilt. Guilty for not wanting to do much of anything. And guilty because I had already skipped one of the things I know usually makes me feel better. Helpful, right?

I had to remind myself that the world wasn’t going to collapse. Neither was I.

Then—after approximately a gallon of coffee—I stopped judging the day and started paying attention to it:

🔹 What was going on with me?

🔹 What did I actually have energy for?

🔹 How could I work with the day I was having instead of fighting for the one I wished I’d had?

So I did the few things that genuinely couldn’t wait. And then I gave myself the rest of the day off. Oddly enough, giving myself that permission made it easier to focus on what did need to get done. There’s research behind this: being less punitive with ourselves when we fall short can lower stress and make it easier to re-engage.

It wasn’t my most productive day. But it wasn’t a wasted day either.

I managed to get myself unstuck—from the guilt and, eventually, from some of the blahs. And it didn’t take a dramatic breakthrough or a major shift. I just had to notice where I was at that moment and respond instead of fight.

The same approach applies when you feel stalled in your career—or stuck on a major decision at work. The first step is to give yourself some grace. You’re human. Unexpected feelings, dips in energy, and moments of doubt are all part of the deal. Fighting them can add another layer of stuck. Then ask yourself:

🔹 What’s draining your energy right now?

🔹 Which one of those drains can you reduce, remove, or stop carrying alone?

🔹 What gives you energy, clarity, or momentum—and how can you bring a little more of it into your day?

🔹 What decision are you actually trying to make?

🔹 What’s the smallest part of that decision you can make today?

🔹 What are you treating as permanent that might only need to be a next step?

🔹 What could move you forward—even if it doesn’t solve everything?  

The goal isn’t to force a major breakthrough. It’s to stop fighting where you are long enough to see what might help you move—even if it's one small step forward.

➡️ Feeling stalled? Don’t push through it. Start by noticing what’s draining you and what might help you move.