I’ve been pretty oversubscribed for the past few months. Sometimes, that involves choosing who you want to disappoint (there’s no option to keep everyone happy).
It’s not even a time thing. I have lots of time to watch YouTube (and write this newsletter). It’s a bandwidth problem. I think I have 4–6 hours of decent energy/productivity/bandwith a day.
That led to me being the person I hate most on a project — constantly unreliable and late.
In summary, instead of communicating that I was oversubscribed — I kept on underdelivering and doing just enough, hoping they would adjust their expectations accordingly. They didn’t. I pissed said people off and didn’t deliver what I’d promised.
Lesson learned: Communicate early on that you can’t deliver. Don’t just leave things until they deteriorate.