Just because I have the capability to do something doesn’t mean I have the capacity. This is a lesson that hit me suddenly, and keeps reverberating as I continue to grow my business.
The Wake-Up Call
It was a simple email that did it. Someone sent me a work email late in the evening and, as a new business owner, I was eager to respond to it. So I did. I hit send. Then, I realized that I’d written something in a way that could be considered unkind, and I was crushed. I had the capability to respond more diplomatically than I did, but my capacity was drained by the late hour. I made a deal with myself to never again respond to a work email when my capacity was low.
Capability Without Capacity
As a person who has acquired a fair number of skills and many decades of experience, I often tell myself, “I can do that! I’m capable.” I think that’s the teacher in me, believing in my abilities. That’s not a bad thing. It’s enabled me to do many new things, grow and learn. But, I didn’t realize how much I was overloading my capacity. I didn’t even consider that my capacity was part of the decision process. I thought that if I could do it, I should do it. It didn’t cross my mind to consider whether my battery had enough charge to support such an endeavour.
Without consideration for my capacity, I often wore myself thin, got sick or didn’t complete the task as well as I could have. This is not a recipe for success.
Factors that affect my capacity include:
- Time of day This is a big one for me. If it’s after 8pm, my energy is not high enough to handle any complex tasks.
- A full schedule If I have to squeeze it in, I will be too stressed to do it well.
- My emotional state If other things are weighing on me right now, taking on something else, isn’t wise.
- My health Everything from a cold, to a pulled muscle, to lack of sleep can affect my energy levels.
Capacity Check
Checking my capacity levels before committing to things that I have the capability to do, allows me to show up as the person I want to be. I can make adjustments to make the activity more likely to be successful. I can change the time to the mornings, or schedule it at a less busy time. I can defer it until I’m recovered from my illness. I have the ability to control the things that I commit to and protect my capacity. This is a lesson in boundaries that I never realized I needed before, and now it just keeps reverberating.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this. Comment below.
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