Mental Capacity

The concept of Mental Capacity is one which I definitely don’t employ as much as I should. But like most things I write about, reading the manual is the first step to usage. (Me, just realizing I never read the manual)

In manufacturing terms (yes! my degree is useful!) capacity is the number of units a machine or person can create in a time period. For us, mental capacity could be how many ‘things’ we can think about at once, how many open loops reside within our brains or even how many tasks we can complete in a day.

We all have different mental capacities, and I don’t believe it being either large or small is beneficial to the individual in any unfair-advantage kind of way. I think the most important thing to know is your limit and how to not allow yourself to buck it.

This reached me very recently. With taking more courses than usual this term, financial stress, pressures of ‘Idk what I’m gonna do’ after graduating and just general life - I had a moment.

Thankfully, I have a partner who will willingly talk through these things with me and help me to figure them out. To be honest even just the knowledge that someone is there for me, really reminds me that all will be well. If you don’t have a partner or you have a weird relationship (I don’t judge), this may be a friend or a family member that you can reach out to. (If you really don’t feel like you have anyone, reply back to this email and I'll help you as much as I can. We are all family here <3 )

Another thing that really helps my brain is to plan almost every minute of my day with my calendar. Even the time I’m sitting on the bus to go to school. Sometimes even the time that I take to poop if I am feeling extra anal. (AM I A WRITER??) For me, it really helps me to compartmentalize what I am doing in certain moments. (Author’s note(:p): Amendri says I am a true Virgo, whatever that means)

Lastly, another thing that really helps me is perspective. I remember how grateful I am to have these problems and that there are many other people who experience much worse than I do.

While this isn’t some ground breaking new technique you can use to increase your productivity by 1000%, it is a nice little thing to know to make your life just a little less stressful. Maybe just enough so you can make it Two Steps Ahead :p .

Let me know what you think about Mental Capacity and somethings you do to help manage it.

See you next week :)

Max