This is great advice, Christina! I remember years back when I was in a depressed period where I had zero motivation, my therapist used to tell me something similar to what you wrote. She'd help me challenge my thinking. She'd say "How long does it REALLY take to load the dishwasher? Five minutes max?" The fact is, that's all it takes. Then if you wipe the counters? Five minutes more, or less? The reward, relief, and satisfaction is worth oodles for the amount of time it takes.


My therapist would also tell me not to look at the whole big picture, if everything seemed in disarray. She'd tell me to pick one smaller project and just concentrate on that. Then...if I can/want, move on to another. A lot gets done that way. It's amazing how several 5 to 10-minute work projects, separated by hour rest periods, add up to huge productivity.