[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/learn-more\/capacity\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/learn-more\/capacity\/","headline":"Capacity","name":"Capacity","description":"You have more than you think Build your capacity. What […]","datePublished":"2023-07-17","dateModified":"2023-03-01","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/author\/algorithmlife\/#Person","name":"algorithmlife","url":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/author\/algorithmlife\/","identifier":1,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d9ce54bf7884db06c868d4c3d9f401d81cecc940d6403409642a6a34d06caa8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d9ce54bf7884db06c868d4c3d9f401d81cecc940d6403409642a6a34d06caa8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Person","name":"Dave Burnett"},"url":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/learn-more\/capacity\/","about":["Learn More"],"wordCount":804,"articleBody":"You have more than you thinkBuild your capacity.What is your capacity for boredom100 decisions per day.When I took a metal bar to the head, and suffered a massive concussion and traumatic brain injury, my capacity was suddenly limited.\u00a0 Where I used to have tremendous capacity for mistreating myself, staying up late, eating whatever I wanted, not getting enough rest and being able to work through it, I no longer could. I was overwhelmed, anxious, and just barely able to make it through the day.\u00a0 This caused me to rethink, and take a look at how I was spending my time.\u00a0 Not because I wanted to, but because I needed to in order to be able to function in my day.\u00a0 I’m hoping it doesn’t take traumatic brain damage for you to learn from my mistakes. Right after my concussion, the absolute most I was able to do was work for 15 minutes, then sleep for 45.\u00a0 Work for 15, sleep for 45.\u00a0 All day, from 9 to 5.\u00a0 Then, I’d eat dinner, and go to bed.\u00a0 It was all I could do to get through the day.\u00a0 Suddenly my day-to-day responsibilities exceeded my capacity. This made me realize several things: the first being that you only have so much decision making ability each day.\u00a0 I came to think about it as 100 decisions per day.\u00a0 Total.\u00a0 For all things.\u00a0 What pair of socks were you going to wear?\u00a0 That was a decision.\u00a0 Should I answer email, or work on a project.\u00a0 That was a decision.\u00a0 Should I turn the lamp on as well as the overhead light?\u00a0 A decision. And it wasn’t just the little things, it was the big things too.\u00a0 How should I respond to that client?\u00a0 Should I hire that new person?\u00a0 What is the best thing I can do right now to help the business grow?\u00a0 And I only had 100 a day.\u00a0 Total.\u00a0 For the big and the small.\u00a0 Think about how fast those go.\u00a0 So I had to do two things:\u00a0 Eliminate the need for decision making in as many situations as possible, and build my capacity for more decisions. So how did I do those things? By making many decisions once, and just doing them.\u00a0 What time to I get up?\u00a0 Between 5 and 6.\u00a0 What do I do first thing?\u00a0 The 10-10-10, then exercise, then eat, then start work.\u00a0 What do I have for breakfast?\u00a0 A yogurt parfait.\u00a0 Lunch?\u00a0 Leftovers from yesterday’s dinner.\u00a0 If there are no leftovers, a salad.\u00a0 What did I wear?\u00a0 Whatever was next in the drawer.\u00a0 What if that shirt doesn’t go with most of your wardrobe?\u00a0 Get rid of it.\u00a0 Now everything goes with everything.\u00a0 This way, I could save up my store of decisions to use them when it mattered. So now that I was optimizing what I had, I needed to build up my capacity for more.\u00a0 I did that through steady repetition, and treating myself right.\u00a0 I got enough sleep.\u00a0 I was grateful every day for what I did have.\u00a0 I went to doctors and got treatment for my neck injury that was a by-product of the blow to my head.\u00a0 I meditated to build up my mental strength even though the first time I did it the strain was so much I couldn’t get out of bed for the rest of the day.\u00a0 I ate right.\u00a0 I read, instead of looking at screens.\u00a0 And slowly, really slowly, my capacity started to grow.\u00a0 Like any muscle, I had to train my brain to get it’s endurance back.\u00a0 It’s capacity back.\u00a0 And I still work on it every day. One of the interesting things I reflected on, that I’m sure you don’t think about much if at all, is what is your capacity for boredom?\u00a0 I ask this because believe it or not, this is one of the keys to success.\u00a0 It is also why I think some people who may not be as bright as others, are still tremendously successful.\u00a0 They have a higher boredom capacity. Really smart people are always trying to fix things, reinvent things, and make things improved.\u00a0 Or they try to do 10 things at once.\u00a0 If they simply did what needs to be done, they would be much farther ahead. Think about a basketball star.\u00a0 They had some natural gifts, such as being athletic and tall, but they still needed to spend thousands of hours, lots of them alone, doing the same thing over and over again.\u00a0 Bouncing a ball, and throwing it through a hoop.\u00a0 Again.\u00a0 And again.\u00a0 And again.\u00a0 How boring do you think that is?\u00a0 Terribly so.\u00a0 But one of the things that made them successful was the capacity to be bored, and keep being bored.\u00a0 That is some of their secret sauce. What’s yours? "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Learn More","item":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/learn-more\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Capacity","item":"https:\/\/algorithmforlife.com\/learn-more\/capacity\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]