The Art of Capacity Management

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

This articles builds on the concepts established in the article, Managing Overwhelm and Capacity.

The Capacity Log is a simple tool that you can use to indicate what increases and reduces your capacity to be with what comes your way. What comes your way might include both challenges and opportunities. If you feel challenged, do you have the capacity to respond? If there is an opportunity, do you have the capacity to pursue it?

With awareness of what drains or restores capacity, you gain access to the clarity needed to choose wisely what you give your attention and energy to. More awareness means more clarity. More clarity leads to better choices. When it comes to capacity and overwhelm, making better choices means having enough capacity to respond when unexpected challenges or opportunities present themselves.

When capacity is reduced and you become overwhelmed by the demands and stresses of life, you lose access to precious resources.

As you master the art of capacity management, you will notice that the more available capacity you have for life, the more access you have to the inner resources needed to meet challenges and explore opportunities. Maintaining your capacity results in consistent access to inner resources needed to show up as the highest and best version of yourself in life.

When capacity is reduced and you become overwhelmed by the demands and stresses of life, you lose access to these precious resources. You become less patient, feel physically weaker, easily become confused and frustrated, and lose self-confidence. With ample capacity no patience is required. You have the ability to generate circumstances rather than just reacting to them. You are resourced from the inside out mentally, emotionally, and physically.

For all these reasons, the Capacity Log can be useful. Knowing what reduces and increases capacity is a worthy objective.

Notice when your capacity has been diminished before you become overwhelmed. To do this, pay attention to how much access you have to inner resources such as creativity, patience, and joy. If you begin to lose access to these and other inner resources, your bucket is getting too full.

With access to creativity, the imagination is fully functional. When we have the capacity to be creative, we can express our unique authentic selves and to imagine possibility.

Without enough joy, life becomes difficult, and nothing is appealing.

Notice how it feels inside to be impatient. Impatience is a sign that you have forgotten that you are responsible for your experience. When you have plenty of patience you don’t even know you need it.

I believe we all have built-in guidance systems and that our inner resources help us find our unique personal purpose. Managing capacity helps us follow our inner guidance. And following our inner guidance points in the direction of our personal purpose. If you want to find your purpose, maintain ample capacity for the journey.

We all have built-in guidance systems.

What are your purpose indicators? When the needle is low on your inner resources, it’s time to look at your Capacity Log to remember what restores your capacity.