We have a house rule about paper towels – whoever uses the last one replaces the roll.  It’s pretty straightforward, right? 

Well, the lengths Darren will go to to be the one NOT to replace the roll have gotten pretty extreme.  This afternoon the roll was getting low, so I put a new roll on the counter and went downstairs.  When I came back up, he had taped a tiny corner of the very last piece to the empty cardboard roll.  And left the new roll sitting next to it. 

You might be laughing right now – and I laughed, too.  

But the effort it took to find tape and do the taping took him WAY longer than it would have to just replace the roll.  

He did it for the laugh, but, in all seriousness, how often in our day-to-day lives do we make things 10x harder than they have to be?  

• We take the ‘easy’ route by not doing something that needs to be done – and then still have to do it later.  
• We put off the thing that would take minutes until it now takes twice as long.
• We beat ourselves up for not moving on a project and fail to move on it at all.
• We tell ourselves we can avoid the anxiety of a task only to live with greater anxiety until we finally do it. 

James Clear says “Strangely, life gets harder when you try to make it easy.  Exercising might be hard, but never moving makes life harder. Uncomfortable conversations are hard, but avoiding every conflict is harder. Mastering your craft is hard, but having no skills is harder. 

Easy has a cost.”

I found a huge list written by Ashley Laderer a few years ago of 100 little ways we’re making our lives harder than they need to be.  I started cutting it down for this post, but decided to include ALL of her list here because it’s such a great reminder of how funny our brains are.  

Paolo Bailey says it this way, “Your brain recognizes the task you’re avoiding as a threat, it creates anxiety, and your natural reaction is the same fight-or-flight which it would in nature: to get away from the threat. The problem is that this isn’t a tiger that’s going to eat you, and getting away from the task is only going to make it worse.”

I found several items on this list I can easily incorporate to make my life, well, easier.  I’m guessing you will, too. 

I can’t wait to hear about how you’re going to quit making your life harder.  If you need help – with anything on this list! – I’m your gal!   Just give me a minute to replace the paper towels.  

The “You’re Making It Harder” List by Ashley Laderer

1. Waiting until the last minute to complete a task
2. Not leaving yourself enough time to get somewhere
3. Saying “yes” to too many plans
4. Holding in your emotions
5. Not letting yourself cry once in a while
6. Not keeping a first aid kit handy in your house
7. Not having extra rolls of toilet paper at your house
8. Staying at a job that makes you miserable
9. Wearing pants that are two sizes too small
10. Not getting enough sleep
11. Not eating breakfast
12. Staying in toxic and/or abusive relationships
13. Spending too much time on social media
14. Spending too much time trying to make yourself seem cool on social media
15. Not listening when others speak
16. Being closed-minded
17. Complaining without taking action
18. Hitting “snooze” on the alarm 10 times, and running out of time for anything else in the morning
19. Drinking too much on work nights
20. Automatically spending all the money you got on your tax refund
21. Not asking for help when you need it
22. Telling lies (and having to keep up with them)
23. Self-sabotaging (in any way)
24. Falling prey to imposter syndrome
25. Not telling people how you genuinely feel
26. Never taking risks
27. Comparing yourself to others
28. Not trusting yourself
29. Having toxic friends
30. Dwelling on the negative
31. Not having prescriptions set up for automatic refill
32. Not treating yourself to something nice once in a while
33. Not taking your designated lunch break
34. Not taking your allotted vacation time
35. Being afraid to say “no”
36. Never exercising
37. Leaving bills unpaid until the last minute
38. Staring at your phone screen too much before bed
39. Forgetting to breathe (go take a deep breath right now)
40. Punishing yourself for making mistakes
41. Forgetting that everyone makes mistakes
42. Obsessing over a diet
43. Obsessing over your “flaws”
44. Letting your credit score drop scarily low
45. Not keeping a personal hygiene routine
46. Lacking work-life balance
47. Not keeping condoms handy
48. Not getting STD tested regularly
49. Worrying about things you have no control over
50. Worrying about things way too far in advance
51. Keeping up with bad habits instead of trying to break them
52. Taking yourself too seriously
53. Holding on to grudges
54. Checking your email as soon as you wake up (it can wait til you get to work!)
55. Living in denial
56. Not going to the doctor when you feel sick
57. Not going to scheduled check-ups
58. Worrying about other people too much
59. Not eating regularly
60. Being a “control freak”
61. Renting an apartment that’s way over budget
62. Developing drug habits
63. Being passive aggressive
64. Not dressing for the weather
65. Never checking your bank account and just praying there’s some money in there
66. Not keeping snacks on hand at work
67. Taking constructive criticism personally
68. Forgetting to practice self care
69. Missing medication dosages
70. Stalking your ex on social media
71. Not deleting your ex’s phone number
72. Talking badly about your coworkers at work (you’ll get caught)
73. Talking smack about your friends (you’ll get caught)
74. Making impulse buys you can’t afford
75. Not filling up on gas until you’re running on empty
76. Spending a million dollars on coffee everyday when you could make it at home
77. Buying a $15 lunch everyday when you could make it at home and pack it
78. Having a really messy room
79. Not doing your laundry until you’ve run out of underwear
80. Waiting for the trash to be overflowing before you take it out
81. Not checking train delays or traffic reports before you leave home
82. Not cleaning out your cat’s litter box until it reeks
83. Not taking your makeup off at night (resulting in future skin problems!)
84. Not responding to emails in a timely manner (that inbox is gonna build up!)
85. Not asking for what you want
86. Not asking for what you need
87. Not planning important things far enough in advance
88. Putting off buying holiday gifts until the night before
89. Not putting your keys back in their normal place
90. Not bringing a phone charger with you when you’ll be out for an extended period of time
91. Not getting a haircut or trim for a year
92. Not deleting unneeded photos and documents on your phone and electronics (gotta free up that space!)
93. Letting your dirty dishes pile up until they’re overflowing
94. Not asking your neighbors to be quiet when you desperately need quiet time
95. Being on your phone while you’re ordering your coffee (or lunch, or whatever)
96. Not keeping tampons/pads handy
97. Putting too much on your plate
98. Believing yourself to be unworthy of love
99. Falling asleep on the train and missing your stop
100. Not knowing your limits