The paradox of petty problems: Why small annoyances can snowball
All In The Mind
ABC Australia
4.5 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Slow walkers. Unmelted cheese in a toastie. Bad formatting in documents.
If these small annoyances make you weirdly mad, you're not alone (in fact, you're human). But when little pet peeves add up, they can contribute much bigger problems like chronic stress. So what can you do about it?
Today: why small annoyances have such an outsized impact; why judging yourself doesn't help; and how elements of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help you better navigate these moments (as well as the bigger challenges in life).
And if you're not a fan of radical acceptance, which was covered in a recent episode, we go deeper on what it really means.
You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
Guest:
Dr Patricia Zurita-OnaClinical psychologistAuthor
Credits:
- Presenter/producer: Sana Qadar
- Senior producer: James Bullen
- Producer: Rose Kerr
- Sound engineer: Roi Huberman
More information:
Relationship of daily hassles, uplifts, and major life events to health status
The peculiar longevity of things not so bad
Patricia's website and resources
Other recommended listening:
Chronically stressed? These small changes can help
Difficult people and radical acceptance: answering your questions about tricky relationships
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. |
| 0:07.8 | Global Roming. We did try to stay weekly. The news said no. So five days a week it is. |
| 0:13.7 | I'm Hamish McDonald. I'm Geraldine Doog and now joined by esteemed colleagues Latika Burke and Kylie Morris. |
| 0:20.1 | Search for Global Roaming on the ABC Listen app |
| 0:22.4 | or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:26.6 | When people put an empty milk carton back in the fridge. |
| 0:30.9 | When people are on a train and they're talking in their phone |
| 0:34.0 | and it's really loud, especially when it's like a business call, so it's just so |
| 0:38.4 | boring. People who queue at a bar. You stand along a bar. That's why it's built as a long bar. |
| 0:46.8 | So recently, we asked a few people around the radio national offices what their petty grievances |
| 0:52.5 | or their small annoyances are, they did not |
| 0:55.8 | hold back. |
| 0:56.7 | If you're going to be slow or if you want to look at something or on your phone, then |
| 1:00.5 | just walk on the left. |
| 1:02.7 | Some of us are in a rush or have places to be. |
| 1:05.8 | Move. |
| 1:06.8 | I mean, I don't know if it's just my colleagues that are particularly irritable, but there |
| 1:10.0 | was an incredible variety |
| 1:12.0 | of the kinds of things that can piss people off. Unmelted cheese in a toasted sandwich. I totally |
| 1:17.4 | agree with that one. I hate it when people just throw everything in the recycling and the hope |
| 1:20.9 | that it's recyclable. Also bad. When someone is standing right in front of the train doors |
| 1:26.4 | as you're getting off. |
... |
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