On Recognizing Your Capacity

As I sit here trying to write this blog post in the less than 30 minutes before both my kids emerge from their rooms, I’m ruminating on the word capacity. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot over the last six months and it is a concept that has changed immensely for me over the last five years.

I have always been a “do-er” - when people ask me how I stay motivated and productive, it’s hard for me to speculate because it really is innately who I am. I’ve always loved being busy and I’m someone who derives massive satisfaction from completing a project. Becoming a mom, of course, throws a wrench in the lives of people who live in their type a energy because for the first time (or so you think), everything is out of your control. As a new mom, even getting to the grocery store once in a week feels completely daunting let alone cooking your family dinner while your baby snoozes nearby.

Since becoming a full time entrepreneur and mom of two busy boys, I’ve really had to assess what I am truly capable of doing in a day/week/month. Gone are the days where I could write a 40 bullet point to do list and bang it out with a full day ahead of me. Now, my life is lived in short sprints. 45 minutes of emails before dropping Liam off at camp. 1 hour before Charlie comes home for his nap…5 minutes to make a healthy lunch for myself…1 more hour to do that final piece of focus work that has been nagging at me. Working parents know that this is just life. Schools close for a day, caregivers call in sick or have another priority that is pressing. As a parent, your number one priority is making sure your kiddos are well taken care of.

It is only now, five years into motherhood, that I have started to recognize my limits and reduced capacity in my career. And taking our business to the next level has made me realize that boundaries have to be set, lines have to be drawn and priorities have to be recognized. And then funny thing is, I know each season will bring it’s own level of capacity and a new set of priorities. It is now, more than ever, that I know I have to live in the flow of what life brings my way. Rather than pushing tirelessly, I try to pull at what feels achievable. Rather than fretting over that which I cannot control, I try to enjoy the process of watching life unfold.

And I try to remember that if it doesn’t get done today, there’s always tomorrow. And if doesn’t get done tomorrow, maybe it didn’t need to get done at all. x