I don’t like taking out the garbage. So I push it off, trying to squash what’s in the garbage to make more room. One time, I decided to time how long it would take me to take out the garbage. Do you know how long it took me?
Under a minute.
I still don’t enjoy taking out the garbage, but timing the task helped me realize that it doesn’t take nearly as long as it feels.
I’ve done this with so many different chores, and I’m consistently surprised. It always feels like the thing is going to take so long, and then it doesn’t.
Time flies when you’re having fun.
When we do something we enjoy, we’re focused on the thing we enjoy and not on the passage of time. An hour can feel like minutes.
There is actually scientific evidence for this. When we’re doing something pleasurable, our brain releases dopamine. When that happens, your brain cells judge that less time is passing.
The opposite is true as well. When we’re involved in something tedious or boring, time seems to crawl by.
And then we think these tasks take forever.
We build them up in our mind until we think they are going to take forever. Then we’re overwhelmed because we can’t do something that is going to take forever.
The next time you can’t bear to start a task, time it. See how long it takes. It might only take moments.