Nothing takes five minures

“It will just take you five minutes” is one of the most toxic lines you can hear.

Nothing ever takes “just five minutes”. You might spend the time tweaking a color or writing a line of code, but work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There are context switches, interruptions, back-and-forth discussions, and, more importantly, the mental overhead of getting out and back to your zone. When someone says this crap to you, they’re not just dismissing your time—they’re devaluing your expertise and the complexity of your work. They’re disregarding the thought, effort, and focus that goes into what you do, no matter how small it seems.

Letting this slide tells others that your time is cheap and your skills are easy to exploit. Don’t fall into this trap.

Next time someone pulls the “five-minute” line on you, push back. If they think it’s so simple, they can do it themselves.