You know what they say, “Never judge a book by its cover.” And boy, do we have a list of books for you! You see, it’s easy to assume that some things are simple, only to find out they require more skills, knowledge, and expertise than we initially thought. If you’re a graphic designer or manage any creative project, you’ll surely be all too familiar with clients asking for “something quick,” which turns out to be time-consuming.
Take cooking, for example. It may seem like a simple task when you do it at home without high expectations about the result, but it’s a lot more complex when you’re a chef and people pay you for quality food. It requires knowledge of ingredient substitutions, cooking techniques, leadership, food safety, and the ability to multitask and manage time effectively in the kitchen. Similarly, public speaking may appear easy if you’re naturally confident and charismatic. Still, it requires a great deal of practice and preparation to create an engaging speech that stays coherent from start to finish.
Brace yourself — it’s time to burst that bubble of deception and assumptions! We’ve collected a series of examples from an AskReddit thread where people shared their struggles with tasks that seemed easy but were harder than they looked. The list includes a variety of difficult tasks, from playing instruments to professional activities, that demonstrate how the perception of difficulty can be highly subjective.
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endableismwrote:
"Doing anything when you have depression."
Kumquatprincess replied:
"I second this. Seriously ANYTHING."
I had a phase, and I had to go to the bathroom, and I didn't want to get up, or even just go in the bed - like, no motivation at all it was crazy
Mr_A wrote:
"Apparently figuring out what the opposite of 'easy peasy lemon squeezy' would be."
venicerocco replied:
"The correct answer is:
Stressed depressed, lemon zest.
Thank you."
"Making friends as an adult (not in school). People today don’t say hello, they no-show to invites, and generally seem to have no interest in building friendships. Try moving and making new friends, especially if you don’t have kids. It is ridiculously hard."
This is so true, especially the moving part. I moved to a new city almost 3 years ago and still have not made a single friend 😔
"Saving money when you are poor.
It sucks to work your ass off for a month to only be 50-100 bucks richer at the end of that month and then see 4-6 months of savings go away when your car breaks down."
"Actually doing things. In theory it’s simple. Just do the thing. In reality I procrastinate until I hate myself."
Not only that lol, but something that seams really easy in theory can be really really hard to do in practice even if you're a busy bee that never procrastinate, i love mechanics i love engines, in theory i can disasemble and reasemble an engine with no problems what só ever, in practice i don't even dare to Change my car's brake pads ( because i know Im gonna forget something and i'l end up a fiery wreck Somewhere )
"Losing weight. Changing habits is HARD!"
"Folding fitted sheets. I've watched instructional videos that make it look so easy but I always just end up with a crumpled up mess, and that's how it gets put away."
I don't trust anyone who can perfectly fold a fitted sheet. That's some voodoo crăp right there
This is my superpower. Lame as far as superpowers go but it makes my linen closet pretty. All my sheets are folded into neat squares, each square made up of fitted, top sheet, and two pillowcases folded together.
It's simple. Thanks a pillow case, do your best fold of the sheets then stuff the top and bottom and other pillow cases inside. Flatten as you can in one end. Fold top over. Done a bundle and don't have them falling all loose in the cabinet or having to find matching sets.
I just "fold" the "corners" together, last the whole thing "flat", and then roll it up. It "works" for me!
"Creating a routine is the easy part - actually following through and maintaining that routine is the problem."
"I use a wheelchair and people usually don't believe me when I say that getting around can be difficult, because many of them think that pushing a wheelchair is easy. (They literally tell me this.)
The thing is when you use a wheelchair all day and it is basically your only means of transportation, it looks more natural.
This becomes a problem when I point out accessibility problems. They often don't believe me because they see how I can navigate and assume that it's easy – just because *I* make it look easy."
Let someone else push your chair round the streets for 1/2 hour. They will soon see how bloody difficult it is!
"Socializing with people. I have severe social anxiety, and even small interactions with strangers, and even some people I’ve known for a while are really hard for me. I don’t hate people or dislike being around them, but I’m just awful at keeping conversations going or initiating them. Outgoing people make it look very easy, for me it is not."
I had this kid come up to me once, huge eyes, hands clasped in front and stand directly in front of me and say, hi, and then stand there saying nothing just staring at me. I tried to ask lots of questions to try a conversation, but the answer was always "yes/no/something short, what about you?" And I'd try long/short/medium answers and other questions, the SILENCE WAS SO LOUD AND THE KID JUST KEPT STARING EEESH!! 🤣🤣 Edit:misspelled shirt 💩
"Rehab and sobriety. I always thought It'd be easy but the first week was hell. I went in for alcoholism and I couldn't bathe my self I was so sick those first few days. The next 7 weeks were basically training myself in self control and how to accept my addiction. I'm 1 year and 7 months clean and out of the 20 people I met in the program, 10 relapsed, and 2 of the relapses were fatal overdoses."
"Holding a flashlight for your dad."
LaylaTheLoofa wrote:
"Making decisions."
MummaGoose replied:
"As a single mum I resent having to make all the “simple” choices. Like what do we eat for dinner. Grr. Someone else decide for once."
Soup Sundays. Manwich mondays. Taco Tuesdays. Waffle Wednesdays. Tortellini Thursdays. Favorite Pizza Fridays. Salad (fruit) Saturdays.
"Having fun at a party. How does everyone else have such a good time? I just find them depressing and annoying."
EvilS100 wrote:
"Plugging in the USB on the first try."
myVisionIsAugment3d replied:
"Here is a lifehack for you, if the socket is horizontal, the USB logo in the plug stays on top."
KayGlo wrote:
"Drawing something from memory. Like a bird or something.
In mind - yep that's a bird.
On paper - that's... a bird?"
notLOL replied:
"Draws squiggly lines far away in the horizon. Birds."
"Being a good dad, sh*t is tough. I have a 18month old daughter and my wife is expecting. I get up for work and 12 hours later I’m back at home and almost as soon as I walk through the door, I’m on dad duty.
Trying to entertain my daughter, give my wife some time to relax, sort out dinner, clean the house. All these things need to be done and time to do them doesn’t exist!
Then there’s Tim to exercise (which I haven’t) spend quality time with the wife and then hobby’s (I’m a gamer)
It’s a thankless job at time but man if my daughters hugs don’t just melt me every time.
The real heroes are the single parents and those with kids with disabilities, you have strength beyond comprehension."
I’m a dad and can confirm I have no life outside of work and family…I don’t even have my game system hooked up anymore!
"Being an adult. They never had to do homework, could stay up late, eat what they wanted and had the money.
I wish I was a naive kid again."
Nowadays most professional jobs require continuous training. There goes "no more homework."
"Teaching preschool or kindergarten.
Preschool and kindergarten teachers are SAINTS and the most professionally proficient of all teachers IMO. It is an extremely difficult and in some ways dangerous job."
God bless our teachers! I became one precisely because I had many who invested in me in ways that I’m not sure I can sum up here adequately. To all of my teachers out there: whether you read this and figure out who I am, thank you. Your work is more appreciated than you may ever realize. ❤️
"Self discipline is the single hardest skill to master in this world that makes it so easy to just... not..."
"Marriage. I think many people believe that they will be romantically in love with the person they are marrying. In many ways you do but most with long successful marriages will tell you it takes work to make a marriage last a lifetime. That level of commitment is hard to maintain.
The rewards are enormous and you'll never be closer to another human if you're doing it right My wife and I just celebrated our 40th and we've known each other for more than 45 years. Planning on being together till end."
My wife and I hit 15 years this past summer. It’s never been easy but I’m still here. I couldn’t imagine life without her and I’m not interested in anyone else.
"Letting go.
No, you won't just switch it off. You won't just stop it when you want. You won't stop craving for it. You won't stop missing it. You'll always get yourself almost back to it because you've made a habit to do it so many times daily that your brain hardly ever registers when you're consciously with it."
We are told to always try .... letting go feels like losing so it is extremely difficult to do.
spicyfriednoodles wrote:
"Life after university graduation. People always say that they can't wait to graduate but little did they know it's just gonna be an uphill battle from there."
hypodopaminergicbaby replied:
"Hardest time I’ve ever had getting a job, now that I actually have time for one."
paco987654 added:
"Honestly I didn't expect a downhill battle but I kind of hoped for an even field."
Very true. We were Ina recession when I graduated and I couldn't find a job in my field. I ended up doing data entry / data quality control for a few years at near minimum wage
"Self-care, for some reason. I don't know why, but when people talk about it, it sounds so simple. Then doing it is like... could include changing habits that have been a part of your life for a very, very long time."
I just started picking up some new habits and resuming habits I stopped sometime ago, such as journaling. I’m already having a little trouble keeping them up even though I know they will pay off in the long run!
"Gardening. It isn't just water it and you're good; its constant attention, care and maintenance! It's really a lot of work if you have a decent size garden but IMO well worth it once you're eating what you grew."
Don't be afraid when gardening. I think a lot of people get hung up on the little things and it causes a fear that they will not try again.
goldengirlsmom wrote:
"Finding a career you’ll want to go to every day that won’t crush your soul. Remember when you were young and teachers told you that you could be whatever you wanted to be... yeah, not so realistic when you want to pay bills and maybe have a little beer money too. I didn’t go to college and struggle with the thought of not being able to have a lateral career move without a degree, but then I see my friends absolutely floundering with their student loan payments and think maybe I don’t have it so bad after all."
MacbookPrime replied:
"I went to college, grad school, got a PhD and work in a senior role at a highly coveted company.
I still don’t feel happy.
The one thing I’ve learned after all these years is that happiness is not defined by title or company affiliation or number of letters after your name. My resume won’t be on my tombstone. But in many ways, I’m stuck because of the responsibilities I have now and all the people in my family and my profession I’m accountable to.
I feel like I’ll always be in the pursuit of happiness, rather than enjoying the moment I’m living in."
I have 10 years experience in my field, but if I were to switch companies I'd take about a 25% pay cut (and start at nearly what a new hire in the field makes). It's especially frustrating when we get a new supervisor who is awful, I have to just try to grin and bear it and remember there isn't a supervisor in the company who has been there longer than I have so this too shall pass.
"Dancing. I wouldn't say it looks "easy", but when I see people do it, they're so good at it and it flows so well it looks easy. But damn, I just CANNOT get my body to do anything more than a bop and maybe some stupid arm moves.
I'm 25 and dance like a 50 year old at a reunion.
Dancers are so delicate and make it look so easy, it's honestly amazing. It's just hilarious when I try to do literally anything and fail horribly."
Yes!! Me dancing in my mind: I'm a swan, beautiful, graceful, gorgeous. Me dancing in reality: I'm an all left footed octopus having a seizure.
"Coding.
Watching tutorial: Oh, this is easy.
Writing code: "WHERE IS THE MISSING SEMICOLON? WHERE?""
In theory, my codes are excellent and are genius but in practise there’s a 100 or more bugs
"Work. I'm a lawyer and had a client call saying she needs a help with a merger, but "don't worry, it's super easy peasy lemon squeezy."
That project took 6 months and I almost had a breakdown. She didn't understand why the bill was so high since it wAs SO eAsY..."
"Science.
There’s a huge difference between being a scientist and being a fan of science. Both are important, but they aren’t the same. A lot of people take a science class or start following a science based Facebook/Twitter/subreddit and only see the successes.
Science is a critical thought heavy endeavor that requires equal parts patience, smarts, and luck. As a researcher doing basic science you’re going to have >90% negative data. For every scientific publication you see, there are months or even years of negative data behind it.
The stuff that science fans and cheerleaders share on Facebook from pages is distilled from the frustrations and efforts of scientists that probably drink heavily."
Well, it is generally said that scientific method consists of 5 steps (although I feel like there are more, in actuality). The steps are: 1. Make an observation/Ask a question 2. Do background research 3. Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation 4. Test with experiment 5. Analyze data and draw conclusions The end result would be to communicate results. So, it stands to reason (slight pun intended), that some would find science not so easy to grasp.
"Handwriting things neatly. I just can't do it!"
My handwriting is a cross between ancient hyroglyphics and chicken scratch.
"Looking presentable every day."
THIS!! With today's demanding schedules and all of the needs of a house Idk what kind of black magic some people do to have time to look polished all of the time. I gave up on makeup a decade ago because I need the extra sleep more!
"Sleeping. So envious of people being able to sleep any time and any where."
I try to be a good role model for my insomniac husband but no matter how often I demonstrate instant napping, he still doesn't learn.
"Changing a headlight for a newer chevy. It involves the bumper and stuff. I miss twist and pull."
"Riding horses. Like, more than just a trail ride. People who have been doing it for a long time make it look so effortless, but it's such a workout. Also you have to be strong and unmoving with half your body parts but loose and fluidly moving with the other half of them."
This is especially true if a horse gets spooked or just doesn’t want to listen to you, too! You can get hurt seriously- if not fatally- if you are not careful in your interactions with horses.
NoobSov wrote:
"Being in your 20's. As a clueless kid I thought by now I'd have everything figured out and my life on track. I'm still clueless but now I also have depression."
The_Highest_Five replied:
"In my 30s. Still clueless."
"Playing an instrument. Have played most percussion instruments, trumpet, some baritone, and was 1st chair tuba/sousaphone for 4 years and difficulty varies based on instrument and physical attributes."
"Waiting tables.
I know you think anyone could do that job. But it's seriously more difficult than anyone could imagine to do it well.
Career waiters could very easily work for the CIA. They have an uncanny ability to read people and an almost psychic ability to anticipate requests.
When it's done poorly its obvious. But a good waiter knows what you were going to ask for and they hand it to you before you've thought to ask.
If waiters worked for wages instead of tips you'd be paying the good ones close to 75k a year to put up with your bullsh*t."
aahhh that's why my mom always knows what I'm up to, she was a waiter! Really tho they're the nicest people in my family lol
"Raising kids."
Raising kids is easy... Raising kids to be responsible, empathetic, and generous adults is hard.
"Wrestling / any type of fighting or grappling. The amount of guys out there who think that they can “kick people’s a*s with instinct” are sorely mistaken.
I was a high level D1 wrestler at the second lowest college weight class, and I still get people who are extraordinarily surprised when they get drunk, challenge me to a wrestling match, and it does not go the way they think it will. Like you don’t challenge a Pro Golfer to 18 holes and expect to beat them if you’ve only ever golfed for fun a couple of times... but somehow that doesn’t translate."
Where the f**k is it normal to challenge someone to a wrestling match when you're drunk. Lmao
"Skating. At least for someone who knows how to skate decently. Pros make some of the hardest tricks look ridiculously easy they’re so good at it."
"Beekeeping. You see videos of these old dudes in their veils and beekeeping suits and it makes it seem so relaxing and easy. Turns out that bees aren't so good at finding enough food on their own and they can get sick really easy and in the winter they can mold. Have you ever seen moldy bees? Sometimes they're not even dead...
It's still worth it though."
"Those captcha things on google. I can honestly never read them and the website always thinks I’m a robot."
"Rainbow Road on Mario Kart. I still don’t think I’ve ever come 1st, ugh."
That was easily one of the most challenging levels of any game I have ever played!
"Writing a post or comment on social media that gets recognition."
"Pretty much anything that a professional does. They make it look easy cause it's their job. Throw a football 65 yards accurately? Psssh simple if you're an elite athlete. Cut open a chest cavity to fix a few coronary arteries? It's just another day at the office for a surgeon. Frame up a structural wall within a 2000 sq ft house? Just a bunch of wood and nails is all you need. Make crowded teeth perfectly aligned? Surely it's just a matter of wearing trays 1 through 55, voila! It's all straight.
In reality, each of these tasks takes someone who trained for years to visualize the problem, solve it, and execute it to the T. It looks easy, cause they practiced the hell out of it."
"Those cool construction and home decoration videos on YouTube. They make it look so easy and even, but these workers literally do it for a living. I can’t even fold paper exactly in half on the first try."
here's a tip: get both corners, then hold with one finger while the others gently crease back to the ends, then carefully slide your nails (or fingers, depends on how sharp you want the crease) to the middle. Usually works perfect. OR, get the corners, hold the middle in your lips so it stays and then crease it
"Getting up earlier. It’s even harder now that it’s fall and dark at my “GET OUT OF BED NOW or call off” time."
I set an alarm 30 min before I have to. Wake up as it jolts me out of sleep and makes sure that i don’t wake up from a very deep sleep
"Asking your boss for a raise."
"Singing. No joke. Singing. Like, you've gotta keep a good posture and you've gotta keep your hands to your sides. Other thing is that when you're trying to do solo's (idk if it's just so I'm gonna guess that other people have to deal with this) your voice CRACKS. I'm sorry but this is true for me."
So true! Learning where the sound should come from, and hearing yourself but keeping in volume with those around you when singing in a choir is so much harder than I thought it would be.
SeniorDiggusBickus wrote:
"Finding the person I always saw myself falling in love with."
Nuova_Hexe replied:
"Are you the person that person is going to fall in love with?"
“Become the person that the person you’re looking for is looking for,” some say. Be prepared as well: consider what your future will look like with the person you intend to marry when you get serious with that person and whether you hold the same values and goals for your individual lives and married life.
phamtasticgamer wrote:
"Playing the triangle. A lot of my non-musician friends joke about how easy it is to play it. Then they actually hold the damn thing and look stupid."
KarmicFedex replied:
"I can still remember my band director...
"You guys laugh about the triangle players, but you have no idea how hard it is to stay focused while counting 132 bars and not miss your cue.""
"Atari video games. They look basic but for crying out loud."
"Diapering a baby. Feeding a baby. Getting a baby to sleep. Looks easy until you have 12 babies in your classroom that all need to be diapered, fed, and rocked to sleep in the next 15 minutes."
"Retail work. Any customer service based job sucks, but I think retail tops it. Most McDonalds at least have s good amount of staff for rush hour (in my experience) where as in retail you sill regularly go through the busiest times with no where near enough staff."
I never want to go back to retail or generally working with the public.
"Being a chef. A great many students starting out in the school I'm about to graduate from likely think that you can take your sweet time in this field. You can't. Everything, EVERYTHING, must be prepped before service starts. At the height of a dinner rush, everyone is going crazy running around making orders and food is flying out the window. This lasts for hours, on a daily basis. It's a sweaty, thankless, brutal career. I wish those students and other aspiring chefs the best."
"Hitting a golf ball. They just sit there, laughing, taunting you."
They call the game golf because all the other four letter words were taken.
"Maintaining a fish tank of any size. Get a even harder when you add plants."
I had no idea how hard it was! I've had a dog and a cat, easy peasy, but the fish?! Oh my goodness! I followed everything I was told to do, monitored the water, cleaned the tank on schedule, fed them the right food, the right amount, didn't leave old food in it, yet guaranteed a month at a time one would die. Broke my heart (and my little boy's) so I gave up in the end.
"Digging. Anytime its shown in movies or TV it looks easy af but the second you have to grab a shovel and break dirt.... bleh."
"A basic physical exam at the doctor.
Looks like a simple 'look at the throat' 'listen to the chest' 'yup they have a heart all right.' When in actuality Doctors spend thousands of hours practicing it so that when you come in with a murmur or 'Funny-looking-kid-syndrome' they can recognize it immediately.
And yes, there are entire class sections on how to respectfully ask your patient to turn their head and cough as you push on their balls (they're looking for hernias)."
"Self publishing a book. Okay, it's easy to just toss some words on a page, upload it to Amazon, and get it published, but actually getting people to buy your book once it's out there is insanely hard. It doesn't matter how good your book is, nobody knows who you are so there's no reason for them to click Buy on your book. You need to do everything you can to promote it yourself - which can include paying out of your own pocket for ads that may or may not help.
Source: I self published a novel, stumbled at the "promote it" step, and had dismal sales. Now I have the sequel written and awaiting beta readers. I'm going to need to try the whole "promote myself" thing again and hope I have better luck."
"Sheep shearing.
They hate you, they weigh 100-200lb, unwashed wool is kinda nasty (greasy from lanolin, has burrs in it, dirt, often some poop even in the best conditions), they are bumpy, the shears will cut them if you mess up, you will feel very bad if you mess up, your back will feel very bad even if you don't mess up. The Youtube videos never do it justice."
"Swimming for exercise. Even for someone that’s in good shape, works out often, etc, swimming is incredibly tiring after such a short amount of time."
"Flying remote controlled helicopters. It looks so effortless when watching seasoned flyers but in reality it’s like balancing a marble on an upturned bowl."
billingsley wrote:
"Easy as pie. Pie is the most difficult thing I've EVER done/made."
So_Motarded replied:
"Hell yeah. Keeping the dough cold while avoiding overworking it, and somehow perfectly distributing the butter throughout the mixture so that there aren't massive butter chunks... ugh, it's difficult."
The expression actually refers to eating pie, not baking one. But as someone who prefers eating cake or pizza to pie, it still doesn't make that much sense.
"Doing make-up."
Putting make on? Don't plaster it on. You don't need to look like you're going on stage(unless you are on stage). If in doubt about ways to put it on and what looks good on you, seek out the cosmetics counter in your department store or pharmacy, and ask for help.
"Being a server."
"Stand up comedy. Go up on stage during an amateur night."
"Adult coloring books, especially those intended to reduce stress."
Any coloring book can be an adult coloring book, if an adult is the one coloring it
"Writing a 250-word open-ended reflection where you're expected to be creative.
All I want as a grad student is some goddamn STRUCTURE and also a RUBRIC."
"Hanging out with friends during that “I’m not at school but I’m still dependent on my family” period where you have spare time but have no way of getting anywhere."
"Soldering."
Elecro-mechanical engineering here ... Don't skimp on flux, put a little puddle of solder on the tip for even heating, a let the joint heat up enough and the metal will generally flow into it on its own. Remove the iron/tip and let solidify before moving anything around.
"Getting away with murder."
My friend and I hypothetically planned a heist and no matter how good the plan was, we would eventually get caught
"Golf. I feel like most people think they can just grip it n rip it and don’t take into account how hard it is to have a consistently good swing with solid contact."
Or how physically tiring it is!! My first time at a driving range I had a blast... And felt it for the next 3 days!!
"Being a kid. You can't choose what to eat, you can't just find night-shift work if you aren't a morning person, you can't relax after school because you go home with stacks of homework every day, you have asshole peers that you're forced to be around every day, you're always under supervision, and nobody takes you seriously.
Don't get me wrong, it's full of fun times and I still miss it, but we take adult life for granted sometimes."
lmao no. Being a kid was a thousand times easier. Hell, everything up through college was damn easy. I wish I could go back to those carefree times.
"Online dating. As a girl I have a wide range of prospects but it's a lot of work to find someone I actually want to meet and I'll generally have some good 1st dates when I do but then the guy goes MIA."
"Math, I swear to god pieces of my soul became trapped in math work and perished when I burned them."
"Killing enderman for ender pearls."
Before the nether update it was even harder because you had to hope and PRAY that one would spawn, and then even then you had to hope a pearl would drop when you killed it-
"Programming.
It's like lego sets. Anyone can follow the instructions and make the millennium falcon. But it's a whole different ballgame when you're given a pile of assorted blocks and someone says "Okay, now... recreate the Taj Mahal. But the client wants it to look like Big Ben. It also needs to be able to interlock with the Sphinx, the Great Wall, the Eiffel Tower, and the Maojang Temple to create a super monument. Yes I know the Maojang Temple hasn't been designed yet, just make some good guesses. We can add parts to it once we know what we need.""
"Street names.
Everyone thinks it's great fun and likes to offer suggestions but every tree, lake, and other natural feature has at least a dozen variations which you can't repeat for emergency service reasons.
That and you get cities which want a street name change anytime the road changes direction regardless of a logical break point like an intersection."
"Making lemonade. Sure squeezing one lemon is easy peasy, but do you know how much juice that makes? Not a lot."
County Fair Lemonade: Get a LARGE cup (like the XL from the gas station) cut a washed lemon in half and squeeze it in to the cup then put the rind in the cup. Mix 1/2 -1cup of sugar with a cup of warm in a separate cup to dissolve it. Fill the cup with the lemon with ice, pour sugar water in, top with cold water and shake/stir. (It's easier to make than to type).
"Any competitive videogame, a lot people think it's easy to make money from esports, I've heard many times "they're just playing video games, they shouldn't be making so much money". Well then... try."
