When I feel like nothing’s going my way I try to cheat my brain to get a win.
I pick a low stakes task that I need to do but can’t possibly fail. Folding laundry, putting away the dishes, cleaning my inbox, whatever. Let’s say it’s folding the laundry because I hate folding the laundry and it is my Sisyphean struggle to never finish folding all the laundry.
I try to make a game out of it. Whistle each time I match a pair of socks, do a little fist bump when I hang up a dress. Something that feels fun and celebrates the fact that there’s a little bit less laundry to do with each item folded.
Then, when I’m all finished (or I just can’t take any more laundry), I take a moment to reflect on all the laundry I have dealt with. The whole is made up of lots of individual pieces, and each one is one less thing I have to deal with. I allow myself to feel good about what I have accomplished - especially on days that I didn’t finish everything.
We can’t always control it when life throws us a curve ball. But sometimes we’ve got to make our own wins. And if we don’t celebrate the wins we have, well then nothing is going right.
This reminds me of a story I saw once (screenshot of someone’s post). I’m probably butchering this, I can’t find it.
They were talking to their very young niece or something about becoming a success, and the kid asked if it was a lot, and she said she needed to get accepted to college, take a bunch of classes to graduate, and find a job after, and the kid said “thats easy, it’s only three things.”
And so I have a friend who also struggles with neurospicy, and we try to simplify each other’s lives by saying “yeah, but that (enormous thing you need to do) is only two things!” And when either of us gets a lot done, whatever number of tasks gets listed, we say “I’m so proud of you, that’s so many things!”
So it feels a lot better to break things down strategically, but it can also help to strategically underplay them :). the external support has also been a blessing, but in a totally different way.
For real, can anything go right for me at least once?
When I feel like nothing’s going my way I try to cheat my brain to get a win.
I pick a low stakes task that I need to do but can’t possibly fail. Folding laundry, putting away the dishes, cleaning my inbox, whatever. Let’s say it’s folding the laundry because I hate folding the laundry and it is my Sisyphean struggle to never finish folding all the laundry.
I try to make a game out of it. Whistle each time I match a pair of socks, do a little fist bump when I hang up a dress. Something that feels fun and celebrates the fact that there’s a little bit less laundry to do with each item folded.
Then, when I’m all finished (or I just can’t take any more laundry), I take a moment to reflect on all the laundry I have dealt with. The whole is made up of lots of individual pieces, and each one is one less thing I have to deal with. I allow myself to feel good about what I have accomplished - especially on days that I didn’t finish everything.
We can’t always control it when life throws us a curve ball. But sometimes we’ve got to make our own wins. And if we don’t celebrate the wins we have, well then nothing is going right.
Thank you for this. I really appreciate it.
This reminds me of a story I saw once (screenshot of someone’s post). I’m probably butchering this, I can’t find it.
They were talking to their very young niece or something about becoming a success, and the kid asked if it was a lot, and she said she needed to get accepted to college, take a bunch of classes to graduate, and find a job after, and the kid said “thats easy, it’s only three things.”
And so I have a friend who also struggles with neurospicy, and we try to simplify each other’s lives by saying “yeah, but that (enormous thing you need to do) is only two things!” And when either of us gets a lot done, whatever number of tasks gets listed, we say “I’m so proud of you, that’s so many things!”
So it feels a lot better to break things down strategically, but it can also help to strategically underplay them :). the external support has also been a blessing, but in a totally different way.