Mental Health · by Olena Shevchenko · 2026-10-09

A beginner mistake I am weirdly glad I made in real life

My current rule is simple: if it takes less than 9 minutes to prepare, I am much more likely to keep doing it.

I had a disappointing first try, a surprisingly good second try, and then a third attempt that taught me humility. So, naturally, I now have opinions.

40 sparks · 7 comments

Comments

Mango Baker · 9 likes

This is adorable and oddly motivating. It sounds small, but the first draft matters. People underestimate how much sleep changes the answer.

Silver Coder · 4 likes

The context helps. Without it I would have assumed the opposite. I would test it for 4 days before deciding. The follow-through matters more than the perfect plan.

Aarav Sharma · 2 likes

This reminds me of something a friend in Dublin mentioned. I keep a note about support for exactly this reason.

Linh Tran · 1 likes

This feels like advice from a patient friend. I used to overcomplicate this constantly.

Léa Bernard · 1 likes

I wonder how much of this depends on timing. It sounds small, but the recipe matters.

Linh Tran · 0 likes

The context helps. Without it I would have assumed the opposite. My friend tried it in Buenos Aires and had the opposite result.

Cedar Baker · 0 likes

My first thought was cost, then time, then whether I would remember to do it. I care less about the perfect answer and more about repeatability.