Issue #23: Shower Thoughts (with Instructions)

August 27, 2025

💌 From the Editor’s Desk

Welcome back to Work In Progmess, where inspiration comes from strange places. This week, a laminated card taped to the inside of a hotel shower.

Yes, apparently even showers need operating instructions now. Which got us thinking: if we need written guidance just to bathe, maybe we also need a manual for something a bit more complicated… like our careers.

— The Mess

📰Headline Shocker

AREA GUEST REQUIRES DEGREE IN ENGINEERING TO TURN ON HOTEL SHOWER

Finds laminated card labeled “Shower Operating Instructions.”Considers framing it for home office inspiration

LOUISVILLE, KY — Hotel guest Laura Kim reportedly froze for three minutes staring at a hotel shower handle before noticing a laminated card titled Shower Operating Instructions.

“I have three college degrees, and I still couldn’t figure it out,” Kim admitted. “Apparently you push, then twist up for cold, down for hot, sideways for rainfall, and diagonally for a random sprayer that only hits your ankles.”

Sources confirmed she eventually succeeded in turning the water on, but described the experience as “equal parts graduate seminar and hostage negotiation.”

🚿 Career Operating Instructions

It sounds silly, but how many of us treat our careers the same way? We jump in, press a few random buttons, and hope the right thing comes out. A manual might look something like this:

To adjust your career temperature, push the panic button on the right side of your 30s. Twist up for promotion, down for burnout.
To select the leadership track, push the networking button on the left side of your comfort zone and twist up.
To rediscover joy, push the "remember why you started" button and twist down.

🪑 From The Editor’s Desk

The truth is, showers have laminated instructions. Careers do not.

Which is why most of us fumble with trial and error. We try the wrong levers. We get sprayed in the face by surprise. Sometimes we settle for lukewarm because we are afraid of turning it the wrong way.

That is why writing your own manual matters. A Personal Operating System. Not perfect. Not laminated. But at least a reminder of what you value, how you work best, and the story you want to live.

Because unlike a hotel shower, your career does not come with instructions. You have to write them yourself.

📩Until Next Time…

Forward this to someone who spent more time figuring out their hotel shower than their five-year plan.

And remind them: life rarely gives you laminated cards. But you can make your own.

— The Progmess Editorial Team

P.S. Our bitter end gives us a glimpse into the future of hotel showers so (in case you don't get that laminated card).

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