Any problem can seem bigger in Lockdown
A problem that wouldn’t have bothered you before can become overwhelming in Lockdown. You can’t seem to get away from it. Of course, some things actually matter more nowadays. If your computer or phone, even your TV, stops working, the effects are much worse than they would have been.
Does the size of the problem matter?
If a thing bothers you, it does. You can’t say it shouldn’t, can you? Well, yes! You need to be careful not to let every little thing get blown out of proportion, for the good of your mental and possibly physical health. I have written before about various things that can affect you at a time like this, and how to cope. A sense of proportion is another thing you need, or need to develop, if you are to survive. You need to spend your time and effort where it is worthwhile. Doing things you like or dealing with issues that actually deserve your attention.
Giraffes: they can look down on a problem that towers over us
How do you measure a problem?
Isn’t it all subjective? I can’t know how important something is to you, or say you’re too worried about it, and you can’t tell how big my issues are. Here’s what you can do. Try to ask yourself, ‘How important will this be tomorrow? Or next week? Next year?‘ That can cut it down to size. It’s amazing the things I worried about or got into arguments over, in the past, that don’t matter in the least now. I am trying to apply this thinking to my present situation. There are things I am finding irritating, but they probably won’t matter next week, let alone next year. Just don’t mention Brexit!
What if the problem is serious?
There must be a solution. The way to manage a lot of things may be found in my book Load The Dice, which looks at managing risks. It includes sections on quantifying them.
