And even that time pales before the mental toll. When I first went about writing a grant application, I thought it would be technically easy---I knew the bureaucratic details would be tedious, but otherwise straightforward. Oh boy, I think it was the most mentally taxing, soul crushing work-related task I ever attempted. I failed to submit, by the way. My research output also plummeted that year.

Classic "penny wise, pound fooling" crap. We could probably be a hundred or more years ahead of where we are if we stopped sabotaging ourselves like this...