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Writer's pictureRicky

I’ve been doing way Too Much

Whoops, I finally missed a post last week.


I’ve been saying Yes a bit too often in my first few months at Hopkins. Several folks warned me about this early on, but I laughed them off.



Since then, I’ve been running from meetings in the morning to talks in the afternoon to social events at night. I’ve been Networking, and God I’m tired.


Strategically, biasing this hard towards saying Yes has been a very fruitful way to begin my time at Hopkins. I’ve made tons of great connections in just a few months, and no one else seems to notice when I’m pushing through stress or exhaustion.


But I certainly do.


And it really hit me this week, as I was giving a guest lecture for the one “Ethics Day” in a graduate comp sci seminar. I was sharing a slide I’d just made for this week’s Friday talk in St. Louis.


The title of my slide was: Everything comes with tradeoffs.


Oh. Right.

I’ve been doing way Too Much.


I’m supposed to be the tradeoffs guy, but I forgot that biasing myself towards saying Yes to everything comes with real costs. In the long term, running around from commitment to commitment trying to fit everything in isn’t sustainable or even possible, depending on how tightly I’ve packed my iCal with Critical (green) events. I’m not at my best, and I could be having way more fun!


So this past week, I’ve been practicing saying No.

  • I’ve skipped non-essential meetings and talks to catch up on sleep.

  • I’ve deleted most of the upcoming events on my iCal, and said No to many more.

  • I’ve stopped working once it gets dark, which seems to be getting earlier and earlier these days.

  • I’ve returned an article review to a journal a few days late without freaking out too much about their urgent follow-up emails.

  • I’ve even told a friend that I don’t know what my life will look like in two months yet, but if I’m able, I’d love to take them up on Opportunity Y.


I think this approach is more realistic and honest, and it lets me show up 100% without having to barge in late, try to catch up, and then figure out how I’ll ever make the next thing. Instead, I can take my time and be fully present with folks at the events I’m prioritizing. I can do less but better.


Per Sturgeon’s Law, 90% of everything is shit anyway, and even if the base rate is a little better here at Hopkins, why not get even choosier with how I budget my time and energy to create space for the really Great stuff?


Normally I’d probably write a bit more, and I do think this connects to some thoughts I’m developing on tensions between floor-raising and ceiling-raising, but you know what?


I can get to that later.

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