On bandwidth and commitments

Since I returned to university-level teaching, I have noticed how little time I now have to do everything I used to do. I continuously tried to convince JT that I was Superman and that I would still maintain the same level of commitment to social media events that I had had in 2008 and 2009. I have recently found myself sending emails containing the word bandwidth.

More explicitly, my emails have actually included the phrase “I have very low bandwidth at the moment”. Knowing me, my readers and close friends must be surprised I actually have had the will power to say no to new commitments, invitations and events. I’m the guy who loves to support each and every single cause. I’m the guy whose trademark is to show up to every single social media event, even if for only 42 seconds (like the hummingbird). But since I made a commitment in 2010 to focus on myself, I’ve found that I need to make it explicit that I don’t have the time nor the energy to attend every single Meetup, Tweetup or event.

It’s just one of those things. I have heard the word ‘bandwidth’ a lot in the tech community. It is used to portray the amount of energy or capacity you have to do stuff. Right now, my bandwidth is very, very, very low. And I don’t foresee that’s going to change any time soon. Particularly, when it comes to volunteering to do stuff for free (paid commitments have a different priority, as you may imagine, simply because I have a crippling debt that I have to pay – so I do pay more attention to stuff that comes with a budget attached!)

Even when stuff comes my way and it’s paid (or will be paid), I need to make a conscious decision and assess whether I can take the assignment on or not. It happened to me at the end of last year, when I just had to focus on my current clients, research projects and classes. This year, I have a few clients and proposals in the pipeline. To those, I have committed time and resources. If I tell you I can take you on as a client, as a graduate student, as a mentee, I *know* I have the time and energy to commit to that. And if I say that I will show up to your event, I will, come hell or high water (as I did with Third Tuesday). But if I can’t commit, I will clearly say “sorry, I don’t have the bandwidth at the moment“. I think that’s the most honest approach.

Note – I had been thinking about this topic for a long while now and then Allie published this excellent post that is totally related so you should also read it!

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