Whether implicit or explicit; daily, weekly, or yearly, everyone has goals. We often think about what we might be able to do, but not nearly enough about our limits. That’s because our limits go mostly unsaid…up until we turn down invites to our favorite sports team, winery, or close friend’s wedding at which point our limits become crystal clear.
As someone recently butting against my own limits, I’ve been thinking a lot about my constraints and how to frame them. My most recent hypothesis is regardless of nationality, income, or social status, we all face two common and overriding constraints – Time and Energy
Time
Of the two, time is more obviously a constraint. We don’t know the exact day we’ll die, but until science makes some unbelievable improvements we aren’t Tolkien’s elves. We will all pass at some point and we each have a finite, but unknown amount of years left.
At a more micro level, this applies every day. Try as we might to extend our days with sleep deprivation or drugs, there will only ever be 24 hours for every person every day.
Energy
While people are quick to grasp the limits of time, energy is less obvious.
What illuminated this for me was talking to my Grandpa. A runner who’d qualified for the Boston Marathon, my Grandpa loved to be outdoors and had been to many of the US National Parks. Though he’d been busy his whole life, in his 80s my Grandpa had more free time than ever. Yet as much as he’d have loved too, it was clearly not possible for him to do a long hike like Half Dome as he simply didn’t have the energy to do it.
And just like time, this isn’t just a long term limit, but a short term limit too. To make it clearer, think about two different possible mornings:
- You run a half marathon at your fastest ever pace
- You have a light brunch with friends
Now think about if you’ve got a major test or meeting 30 minutes afterwards. Under which scenario do you think you’ll do better? Which brings me to a broader point…
Trade Offs
While both time and energy are limits, it’s possible to trade off between them
I like to think of these limits (and everyday) as a car with a full tank of gas and driving 200 miles
- I could put the pedal to the medal, drive 130mph, and get arrive at my destination in ~1.5 hours but with only ¼ tank left
- Or I could leisurely drive 65 mph, arrive in ~3 hours, with double the gas
In the first scenario, I spend all my energy and get extra time, but I’m basically done for the day afterwards. Or in the second scenario, I take my time and arrive later, but doing so gives me plenty of energy for the rest of the day.
While the tradeoffs aren’t always as stark, there’s plenty of examples we see:
- The college student “pulling an all nighter” to finish an assignment who becomes a zombie the next day
- Professional athletes like Michael Phelps who perform incredible feats but sleep extra to enable them
- Or even more simply, the 9-5 worker who stays up late on weekends and wakes starts every week with a case of “the Mondays”
Takeaways
Going back to my car/gas metaphor, it’s sometimes easier to think of time and energy as a single shared limit. Doing so helped me takeaway a few lessons
- Know your goals
- Without an idea of what you want to do, it’s easy to waste time and energy without even realizing it
- This is as true for the teenager mindlessly scrolling on TikTok as it is for the adult reading a NY Times article they’re only vaguely interested in
- Be disciplined about saying no
- Events and activities that don’t improve your life or move you towards your goals sap your time and energy
- Being courteous and attending that conference comes at a tangible cost
- Pay to save time or energy
- When making purchases, think about what you can pay for to give yourself more time and/or energy
- Getting groceries or packages delivered saves time
- Getting movers saves both time and energy
- This is especially true as your income increases
- It’s not just your time and energy that’s finite
- Everyone else faces the same limits and sometimes they’re even more acute
- You often have less time with those you love than you realize so as Tim Urban so eloquently explains, make the most of the tail end of life