One Thing: Exit Ramp

The "one more slide" lie I used to tell myself.

Hi friends,

If you’ve been with me the last few weeks, you know we’ve been talking about capacity and the circuit breakers that signal when we’re nearing our limit. This week is about what to do in the moment you notice…and still want to push forward.

When I was a consultant, my circuit breaker was that my eyes would go dead. It was like I’d suddenly lost 50% of my charge. I could feel it happening in real time. And I still told myself: There’s too much to do. If I stop, the whole project will derail.

So I’d keep going. One more slide.

But here’s the tradeoff. When you’re at the edge of your capacity, “one more slide” is counterproductive. It’s expensive. Your output gets worse and your recovery costs go up fast.

Exit Ramp

Pushing past the quality drop isn’t discipline. It’s diminishing returns.

Try this five-minute exit ramp to practice intervening at the first flip of a breaker:

• Name your signal. Pick one sign you’re past your sweet spot (dead eyes for me).

• Lower stimulation for five minutes. Stand up, then either walk outside with no phone or lie down with no input (no music, podcasts, email, scrolling).

• Decide. Ask, If I keep going, will this get sharper, or just more expensive?

  • If sharper: keep going.

  • If not: stop for now (longer break, or call it a day).

As you try this exit ramp practice, you’ll learn your edge (when your system produces your best work) more accurately than you will by pushing through.

Take good care,
Lisa