How about 80%?

What does 80% capacity look like? 

The other day I was doing laundry. Ya know, taking care of my client, Quick Household. 

I had gotten all 3 (full) baskets and started them in the washer (nope, no separation because I live on the wild side) and switched them over to the dryer - which was a win as I’ve definitely done the wash twice. 

I pull it all out onto our bed and start the folding process. 

I started folding it and Gracie needed something, so I went and helped her.
Then back to folding.
Then I had a meeting.
Then back to folding.
Then it was time to go grab Ellie.

Then we got home and I put our stuff away, took Ellie’s into her room, and then put Gracie’s away.

And as I was putting Gracies away I noticed how small her basket was. Obviously, she has smaller clothes so a big one isn’t needed…but then I looked at Ellie’s. 

Her basket is super tall…which obviously means it can hold more clothes. And for some reason, I typically just wait until it’s full before doing it. 

And then it hit me - what if I didn’t wait until it was full? Or better yet, what if I got one that doesn’t hold as much? 

Would I do more loads of laundry? Technically, yes. 

But, will folding a smaller load of laundry seem much easier? To me, yes. 

That next weekend we were at the store and found a cute smaller laundry basket. For some reason, Ellie was worried that she’d fill it up too quickly, but she doesn’t do her laundry so that was a fun convo :) 

It’s been about 2 weeks since I’ve executed this random thought (probably saw it in a reel at some point) and I’ll tell ya it’s been really nice. Yes, more loads of laundry are done, but it feels like way less time because it’s less to wash, dries faster, and there’s less to fold. 

Even Ellie told me the other day it was nice to only put away a handful of clothes rather than a huge pile - win!

So, what does airing my laundry matter to business ownership? 

What if we didn’t wait until we were maxed out to do something within our business? 

What if, when we got to 80% capacity, we started making changes or adjustments?

Are you at  80% workload capacity? 

This is a great time to look at getting help. That could be hiring someone. That could be delegating something. That could be adding in some systems and/or automations. Why? Because when reach 100% it’s going to be super overwhelming. You’re less likely to have room to pause and look for someone, train someone, or have the patience to learn some new software. 

Have you posted 80% of the social media you had scheduled out? 

Knock some more before you’ve used 100% of it. You may not be as rushed or feel like you’re forcing it just to keep it consistent.

Is your burnout mode creeping to 80%?

Take a step back before you run yourself into the ground. Take a walk. Read a book. Meet with a friend. Take a beat. You may find that you’ll bounce back faster than if you let it get to 100%.

Laundry basket at 80%? Wash it. 
Dishwasher at 80%? Run it. 
Diaper genie at 80%? Toss that sh!t (sorry, had to!)

And this is my public acknowledgment that I poke fun at Sean because it seems that if 2 pieces of clothes hit the basket on the weekend, he starts a load of laundry. 

What is your take on this? Have you been doing this trick forever and I'm just now finding out?