Why Everything Feels Harder Than It Should

You’re not imagining it — everything really does feel harder.
Not dramatic hard. Just… heavier than it should be.

Replying to messages feels effortful.
Starting small tasks feels overwhelming.
Even things you normally handle fine feel like they require too much energy.

This isn’t incompetence.

It’s cumulative overload.

The Real Reason Life Feels So Heavy Right Now

Difficulty isn’t only created by the task itself.

It’s created by the state of the system doing the task.

And many systems are running over capacity.

You’re Carrying Invisible Weight

Most of what’s exhausting you isn’t visible.

Your brain is holding:

• unfinished conversations
• pending decisions
• background worry
• emotional responsibility
• things you must remember not to forget

This invisible weight makes everything else feel harder.

Not because the tasks changed — but because your load did.

Simple Tasks Feel Hard When Energy Is Low

When energy drops, your brain prioritises survival.

Efficiency disappears.

Tasks that once felt neutral now require:

• more effort
• more motivation
• more convincing

This is why you can logically know something is “easy” — and still not be able to do it.

Decision Saturation Is a Big Part of This

Even simple actions contain decisions:

• when to start
• how to do it
• what order to do things in

If you’ve already made too many decisions that day, your brain resists making more.

So it stalls.

And stalling feels like difficulty.

Stress Changes How Effort Feels

When your nervous system is activated, effort feels more expensive.

Everything costs more energy.

This is why during calm periods you can do a lot — and during stressed periods, very little.

It’s not willpower.

It’s physiology.

Why Comparing Yourself Makes It Worse

When things feel hard, people often think:

“Other people cope with this.”

But you are not other people.

You are carrying your specific load — history, stress, responsibility, recovery.

Comparison adds shame.

Shame increases nervous system threat.

Threat makes everything feel even harder.

What Actually Makes Things Feel Easier Again

Not pushing harder.

Not demanding more from yourself.

Ease returns when load decreases.

That means:

• closing small loops
• reducing decisions
• lowering stimulation
• doing less — on purpose

The “One Less Thing” Rule

Instead of asking, “What should I do next?”

Ask: “What can I remove?”

Examples:

• delay one non-urgent task
• skip one obligation
• eat the same simple meal
• leave one message unanswered for now

Relief often comes from subtraction.

How You Know You’re Recovering

You won’t suddenly feel amazing.

You’ll notice:

• tasks feel less heavy
• starting feels slightly easier
• you stop negotiating with yourself as much
• your tolerance increases

This is nervous system capacity returning.

The Reassurance You Probably Need

If everything feels harder than it should, it’s not because you’re failing.

It’s because you’ve been strong for too long without enough recovery.

Hard doesn’t mean broken.

It means loaded.

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Save this for yourself.
Not to push through — but to remember that ease returns when load reduces.

Life isn’t harder because you’re weaker. It’s harder because you’ve been carrying more than you realise.

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