Sat in my car for 20 minutes before going into a grocery store last Tuesday

I drove to the Publix near my apartment after work and just sat there staring at the steering wheel. It wasn't even a big trip, just needed milk and bread. But my brain turned it into this huge boss fight I couldn't start. Made me wonder how many other daily things I turn into mental mountains. Do you guys get that freeze where something simple feels impossible to start? How do you snap out of it before the whole evening slips away?

3 comments

3 Comments

avery_carr5717d ago

Quit overthinking it and just do it. I see people doing this all the time. It's a grocery store, not open heart surgery. You walk in, get the stuff, walk out. Simple. @david701, you're giving a guy permission to build a whole ritual around buying bread and milk. The more you treat your brain like this delicate thing that needs to be coaxed into basic actions, the more control it takes over your life. At some point you just have to override the freeze through pure stubbornness and go.

david7011mo ago

Man, that hit close to home. I've done the same thing more times than I'd like to admit, just sitting in the parking lot trying to talk myself into something that takes ten minutes. Sometimes it helps me to just turn on the radio or a podcast for thirty seconds, anything to break that loop where your brain is stuck on "go" but nothing happens. Do you find it happens more on certain days or just out of nowhere like this?

lilyb271mo ago

I read somewhere that our brains treat starting tasks like a physical weight, so even small distractions can help lift it.