Conditions beyond your control can erode capacity, making it harder to execute at the level you are used to.

Stress and insufficient support can disrupt your ability to think clearly, plan, and follow through.

When you fall short, address what is under your control and acknowledge what is not, without shame.

Have you ever sat down to begin a task, only to feel as if all the motivation immediately left your body? I often find myself saying, “I want to do this,” but for some reason, I can’t.

I used to associate high performance with operating from a consistent level of high capacity. I had an identity around doing as much as possible, as quickly as possible. In recent years, I have come to accept that an approach I once considered an advantage, one that was celebrated and reinforced in every academic or work setting I entered, became maladaptive over time.

When I first started struggling with tasks, my response was to push harder, which only made it worse. I felt like Humpty Dumpty. The old version of me who seemingly used to do it all had fallen off a wall. No matter what I tried, I wasn’t going back to that way of functioning. I thought about quitting my job. I wondered why no one else seemed to be struggling. Now I know that many are, and somehow, that simultaneously makes it better and scarier. Better in that I’m not alone, but scarier in that no one holds the secret to reset. We have to go through this, and grow through this, one step at a time. Together, we are learning how to walk (and work) differently.

How Stress Affects Our Capacity

We may be carrying a physical, emotional, or cognitive load that is invisible to others, and perhaps even ourselves. This could be anything from tension in our bodies and unresolved or suppressed emotions to an open loop of tasks. Each of these can affect our capacity in any given moment and our ability to meet expectations or fulfill what is being asked of us.

In my search a few years back for answers to why I suddenly found it so difficult to plan, organize, and see tasks through, I stumbled across executive function, a set of processes that help........

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