Have you ever felt that nothing ever gets better?

It’s the same stuff, different day.

Day after day, it’s the same, with no apparent progress.

Do you sometimes wonder whether it’s going to be like this forever?

Here are some common questions:

• Will things ever be better?
• Will I ever dig out from under this pile of crap?
• Will I ever return all the calls?
• Will I review last month’s bills before this month’s bills get dumped on my desk?
• Will the emergencies ever stop?

Do you ever feel like this is hopeless, painful, exhausting, and endless?

Do you ever wonder what in the world made you think this was a good idea?

Am I Alone in Feeling This Way?

Here’s the thing: you’re normal.

Lots of us, especially lawyers, feel the way you feel.

Nearly all of us have been there at some point. You really are normal.

We get caught up in the day-to-day. It’s mundane. It wears you down.

How do you escape it? How do you make it better? How do you make progress?

It seems impossible when you look at where you are now. You can see a way out, but it takes time, energy, and money that you don’t have. Without more resources, you feel totally stuck.

How Will You Dig Out?

Here’s the deal: what you’re doing is not pointless. What you’re doing is about learning and improving. Over time, you’re becoming an expert at what you do. Over time, you’re evolving.

Each day you spend doing the same thing, digging out from under the piles, managing the crisis, and dealing with the mundane is making you more efficient. You’re learning little tricks. You’re figuring out ways to do it better and faster.

When you’re mired in the mud, it’s hard to see the progress, but it’s happening. Evolution is invisible to those evolving. It’s happening to you.

The time you need—as well as the money and the space—will come to you as you continue to evolve. The energy you’re expending is not wasted: it’s required. It’s how you get where you’re going.

You can’t see the progress, but if you’re driving yourself forward, then it’s happening. It’s unavoidable.

Every Day Is Different

We think we’re living the same day over and over again, but we’re not. Each day is a bit different. Each day allows us to take on something more challenging. Each day is imperceptibly easier than the last. Each day, we accomplish a bit more than we did yesterday.

You’re making progress. It is, however, really hard to see.

Here’s where to find it:

• Look for it in the way you talk to clients. You can get them to see things the way they should faster than before.
• Look for it in the way you interact with co-workers, employees, and bureaucrats at the court. They’re doing what you need done with less effort on your part.
• Look for it in the time it takes to draft a pleading, write a brief, or prepare a letter.
• Look for it in the way you respond to the latest emergency. Your heart doesn’t beat quite as fast. Your armpits aren’t damp with sweat.

You’re moving forward; you’re making progress.

It’s not supposed to be easy. Learning is difficult. It’s especially difficult when the lessons take so long to learn.

You’re getting better. You’ll survive this period.

It’s not going to be like this forever.