Do you get bogged down in the minutiae of life's tasks?

[Enjoytheweethings]

I don't think I've always been like this and wonder if it's because I spend a lot of time at home (chronic illness) but I am so utterly, completely bogged down in the small details of everything.

Everything seems such an energy drain. Endless tasks need doing.

I get fixated on having to make the absolute best ever decision and end up really stressed when stupid small things go wrong - I think because I feel I can never achieve anything ever.

All three pairs of rubber gloves for doing housework have leaked immediately on first use and I feel so disproportionately weary by that. Now I need more gloves. Yeah it only takes a second to order online, but I need to read reviews to try to get ones that will do the job, I obviously failed to select a decent brand with these...and on it goes.

Meanwhile, my hands will get more chapped and sore from washing up without gloves.

Everything is like this for me I need to stop. It's like a really shitty form of perfectionism where I can't ever get anything done.

This sounds like anxiety. I’m a bit like this.
I recommend a dishwasher though!

FictionalCharacter, is there anything you do to help the anxiety if you get a bit like this?

Oh and we do have a dishwasher! But it's broken and have been waiting ages for landlord to fix it.

The thought of none forever would drive me insane...

Get 'marigold ' gloves - they are indestructible x

No I never get bogged down. Housework is like shifting sand and it never ends. I put the least effort in to ensure a clean and functioning home. Life is complicated enough without getting bogged down in the minutiae of marigolds. I’ve gained perspective on what really doesn’t matter after a set of major life events.

I'm a bit like this, but basically nothing gets done because I can't seem to motivate myself to do it, even though I know it'll only take 5 minutes or whatever. I can't decide on anything ever though. So in your example of the gloves, I wouldn't buy any because I couldn't choose, I would worry about the price/quality etc repeatedly and get sore hands.

I tried to explain my head to DH yesterday, but he doesn't get it. My current one is my DM has offered me a choice of 3 things for our Christmas(!) present. But I can't decide, because what I want is a new mattress (one of the options) but I can't chose a mattress. And if I buy one that I can return in 90 days or whatever, I have to think about returning it and the process for that, and then choosing a new one and it's all too much for my brain! It feels like too much hard work.

It's not really possible to get the best of everything all the time, even if you put in hours of endless research and read all the reviews (especially as there are so many fake reviews circulating these days!)

Sometimes things just aren't going to be perfect, no matter how much effort you put in. That's just life. Like your rubber gloves. But you know that.

Have you ever spoken to a counsellor? I wonder if they might be able to help you to explore this and what's underneath these feelings. It sounds like it is really having an impact on your life.

It’s choice overload. 10/20 years ago you wouldn’t have spent time reading reviews of rubber gloves – you would’ve just picked some up in-store, job done. The fear of making the wrong choice can be paralysing and makes any decision seem more momentous than it actually is. Gloves are largely inconsequential. Save the research for the big stuff.

This is the exhaustion that comes with chronic illness, I think. I recognise it because I have peaks and troughs with my illness. When I'm fighting another infection then every small thing is a hassle and they build up into a list of things that go wrong while you are functioning in a fog. I'm lucky because I get reprieves from illness when I am well and the ease with decisions are made, life is juggled and things get done is like magic.

I’m afraid I can’t really identify anything that helps. Sometimes I can just shake myself out of it and say ffs, I’m not spending any more time on this, I’m going to go for the “good enough” solution- because rationally I know that endless researching is dragging me down and doesn’t produce a better result.
I have to admit that I have several mental and physical health issues that I don’t have the energy to get help for.
It isn’t really bad all the time though. I agree with @FourTeaFallOut - for me it’s when I’m struggling for other reasons that I get like this the most. Other times I am wonderfully efficient!

I get bogged down in everything, im very easily distracted and leave tasks all the time, for ex..making noodle soup for my daughter and it says stir constantly and yet here i am typing this and letting it boil. I hate the way i am, im very careless, i dont have a tidy house, i cant seem to keep on top of things at all, i lose interest very quickly, another example, ill go up to clean my room, find a diary, or book and start reading it, or start organising my dressing table while the rest of the room is in bits, my husband is the opposite and I would say its very hard living with me.

Sounds like ADHD brain to me