Time to simmer…

Yesterday I hit a wall.

Not because I didn’t have things to do - but because I had too many.

When you burn through your decision-making capacity for the day, even the simplest task starts to feel heavy. Not impossible… just heavier than it should be.

That’s when the micro bandits show up.

The small distractions that don’t feel dangerous - but quietly rob you blind.

Your phone.
Social media.
Messages.
News.

Anything that gives you a quick hit of relief so you don’t have to think.

But relief from what?

Not from work.
From thinking about the work.

This morning I was cooking an egg rice paper crepe (a recipe for another time) and reflecting on it all.

I realised I wasn’t lacking discipline.
I wasn’t short on things to do.

I was just… cooked.

And when you’re cooked, pushing harder isn’t always the answer.

Sometimes, you need to simmer.

When you cook a stew, if you rush it, the meat stays tough.
The heat is there—but it hasn’t had time to do its job.

Stress works the same way.

The pressure, the workload, the constant thinking—it tightens you up. And if you keep cranking the heat or try to switch it off completely, you don’t actually solve anything.

You either burn out… or you stay tense.

But if you let things simmer—if you sit with the load for a while—something changes.

Your mind starts to process.
The tension begins to ease.
Things soften.

Clarity comes back.

I think that’s where I’m at right now.

There’s no shortage of work. There never is.

But the goal isn’t to escape it - or force my way through it blindly.

It’s to give myself just enough space to think again.

Because at the end of the day, no matter how big the workload is…

You still eat it one bite at a time.

I’m already cooking.
The fire’s on. The work is there.

So instead of running from it, or forcing it…

I’ll just let it simmer.

Because tough meat doesn’t need more heat.

It needs time.