Life at 80% Capacity
Hey friends,
This past week has been even more hectic than the previous ones, so I had even less time for everything I mentioned in my last edition. Less time for routines, less time for clarity, less time to just sit there, less time for anything but work.
We're all busy one way or another. In my case it's mostly work, in your case it might be a mix of priorities: work, studies, hobbies, family. It's fine to fully immerse yourself in one activity or juggle a lot of activities all at once – as long as you're good at prioritizing and estimating your capacity. How good are you?
I'm not great at prioritization and I'm easily excited about stuff, so I often end up taking up way more things than I can confidently handle in the long run. In the long run is the key aspect of this. It's fine to be overwhelmed for a while, but it never works in the long run. Life is dynamic, and something unexpected will eventually pop up that will require your time and attention. If you're at capacity, you'll scramble to re-prioritize your whole mix of activities. And if you can't realign fast enough, you risk seeing your carefully balanced mix come crashing down.
Not reinventing the wheel here, but the approach to life I'm striving for is to be living at 80% capacity, whether it's work, hobbies, or anything else. This means not stretching myself too thin trying to stick as many activities into my life as I possibly can and leaving enough downtime not just for self-reflection, but also for the unexpected. And there's always the unexpected.
As I'm writing this (pretty rushed, honestly) newsletter an hour before midnight on a Monday, I remind myself that I'm not quite there yet when it comes to 80% capacity. But hey, we're not perfectionists, right? One step at a time.
Have a balanced week,
Martin
A few thoughts
The UX of A. Some aspects of the US felt kinda ill-considered to me usability-wise. More than once I found myself being confused by things like signage in subways or airports. There was always a helpful person to point me in the right direction, but that felt like addressing the consequences, not the root causes.
The American extroversion. There's something about Americans (in general) being willing to talk to anyone about anything, and it feels contagious. It's been two days since I landed in Latvia after a three-week stay in the US and I can't stop wanting to strike up conversations with random people.
Loved this
You Can Handle Much More Than You Think "I occasionally have to remind myself of how strange this online writing world is. Nearly a million people saw some form of my article on Monday, between Twitter, Instagram, and this Blog. But, well, I didn’t really feel anything. I just had a normal work week, and I occasionally thought, “Oh, that’s cool.” But I suspect if you told me ten years ago, “Hey, a million people are going to read the next thing you write,” I might never have written anything ever again."
Why I Give People Free Airport Rides "As I always say: “If you want to meet interesting people, you have to do interesting things.” If you want to meet busy or successful people, airport rides might be a memorable way to do it."
The fun part
I had one more chance to visit NYC before flying back home and meet a friend while I was there. As impressive at night as it is during the day!
