Last night was rough. I didn’t get quality sleep, and I knew it as soon as I woke up. My son woke up and wanted a drink, to go potty, and get cuddles, then I fell asleep in his bed.

And I woke up from that with a pounding headache and too little sleep. My Oura let me know that, so I tried to go back to sleep on the couch, which took forever. I ended up waking up an hour and a half past my normal wake-up time, still with a headache. So today didn’t start off very well.

I got to the cabin an hour later than usual (so I made-up for a half-hour of my oversleeping), and got to work on the studying I skipped during my AM routine.

I struggled through my warmup for the day after trying to work on my studying. I decided to oscillate “off” for a bit after this to see if it would help me get back into a good headspace.

Unfortunately, it didn’t help. The headache won this round. I just couldn’t focus on the gestures — at all. Knowing that my focus is one of the most important things when it comes to doing quality work, I decided to step back and figure out what I could do to fix the headache and low energy.

My wife was kind enough to give me a neck massage during my extra-long lunch break, but my energy and focus were still WAY off when I left for work.

At work I spent a few minutes doing a touch-up on this tattoo. Looking at it beforehand, I don’t think I applied the tattoo well enough to hold up to hair washing, and I wasn’t very clear with the initial aftercare instructions. I guess she had questions that she didn’t ask before she left the first time. I resolved that this time ’round!

What went well?

• I managed to get some drawing time in this morning, even though I didn’t feel like it. I kept the chain going!
• I repaired my own work. I’m incredibly grateful that she trusted me enough to do that after the initial tattoo healed so poorly.

What needs work?

• Figuring out what happened to ruin my sleep last night.
• Tattoo application behind the ear.

What did I learn?

Sometimes tattoos don’t heal the way you expect them to. And I think I learned how to make the right call when my energy is “off.” It’s best NOT to push through, but to get the rest or care you need so you can do what you need to do.

That’s how it worked for me today, anyway.