This will be just a short post today, as I am moving to another city. I’ve noticed quite often that I tend to make challenges seem larger in my head than they actually turn out to be.

Generally, when you think about something that might be hard to do, you focus on the negative and difficult aspects of it. In practice, however, there may also be neutral or positive sides that you overlook while amplifying the task in your mind.

It’s hard to avoid this spiral. But a smart piece of advice someone once gave me was to tell yourself that you only have to try for 20 minutes. If you still dislike the task after that, you’re allowed to stop and take a break (though this doesn’t apply to mandatory tasks that need to be done right away, of course ;)).

I’ve found that usually, the task isn’t as bad as I thought. It only takes 20 minutes to prove yourself wrong. I hope this tip helps you as much as it has helped me.