Capability and capacity

These terms are often used in a fairly dry manner to describe business metrics.

They’re actually also important concepts for our wellbeing as parent carers or busy women.

So what do they actually mean?

Capability - the ability to do something

Capacity - the total amount that can be produced (or contained)

Effective capacity is the maximum amount of output given optimum resources.

Or in everyday language -

The most that can get done when everything is just right and working perfectly.

Here’s where it gets interesting...

You may have the capability to do something but not always the capacity.

Capability is your potential based on skills and experience but your capacity is defined by circumstances at the time.

You may be usually capable of doing ‘all the things’ for your job, your business, your family and all those volunteer roles but if you get sick or overtired, your capacity to actually do them all is significantly reduced. You may end up dropping some balls.

You may be a great cook who meal plans, shops ahead and loves to provide your family with home cooked meals but if you have a killer migraine one evening, you no longer have the capacity to deliver on that potential. Eggs on toast or takeaway will be fine for dinner.

The right supports enable us to keep our capacity close to our capability more of the time and reduce the risk of burnout. A simple yet sustainable self care practice also maintains our capacity.

Self compassion allows us to make decisions based on our current capacity, not our capability alone. And gives us a better outcome.

No good comes from continuing to push through. Telling ourselves that we ‘should’ be able to manage in spite of what is happening does not increase our capacity. It further reduces it.

The quickest way to address our reduced capacity is to acknowledge it and then honour it. And yes, that may mean saying no or lowering our self imposed standards.

So before you start ‘shoulding’ and pushing through an activity, ask yourself this -

Even though I am usually capable of this, do I actually have the capacity today?