Hey Pretty and the No Good Very Bad Day

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. Ever just had one of those days? Yeah, me too, and I'm having one now. It started off great. I had made peace with some confusing situations that have plagued me for months, I was generally happy and satisfied with where I was, I produced some good writing for work, my hair was even behaving itself for once. And then things slowly began to unravel somewhere around 11 am. Preferential treatment for a fellow coworker who seems the eternal do-no-wrong golden boy of our team; an assignment I really don't want to do; clueless managers; annoying coworkers in the lunch room distracting me from the Times Crossword; demanding industry stakeholders. All this workplace angst is leading me to wonder the following: how does one motivate oneself in the face of discouraging forces? Yes, there's the promise of happy hour at the end of the day, the fact that there will be a pitcher of beer at whichever social engagement I select to attend tonight. There's the thought of my Wednesday plans. There's the anticipation of coming home and unwinding at whatever hour that will be and the prospect of our ritual recap-of-our days with K, which are always a pleasure. But none of those are preventing me from staring sullenly into space for the rest of the afternoon while my work goes neglected. I understand the concept of reward for determination, but the determination part isn't sinking in. How do you, dear readers, muster up the motivation to focus on your work when you're in a crummy mood?