Lump of attention

Worked from home yesterday because I was having lunch with Bobby and had a meeting with another engineer regarding the dam. Each time I meet with another engineer I learn more about dams and engineering in general. By the time I'm done, I'll be in shape to pretend I'm a dam engineer, just like I used to be able to convince people that I spoke Italian.

In between updating and running financial plans for clients and nudging Graham on college essays, I went out for a run. In general I've grown a little soft on my exercise in recent months as I've been traveling more and Adam has too. At the end of my circumnavigation of the lake I tacked on an extra loop that added on hills -- as do any additions to runs in our nabe. As I came up Rolling Road I was reminded of a moment in the pandemic when I was actively seeking out hills to run up -- just like we used to when training in track or cross-country -- and I was getting better at it.

Not so much more recently. Along with exercising less regularly, I've been eating out a bit more, so there's been some general softening. It's part of a general wearing down process.

Economists speak of a "lump of labor" fallacy, which assumes that there's a fixed amount of work to be done in an economy, and therefore letting more immigrants in or automating things will subtract from the amount of work available to be done by the existing workforce. In fact, as more value is produced, new needs and possibilities emerge.

I wonder if I and individuals might fall victim to an analogous "lump of energy" or "lump of attention" fallacy, wherein we convince ourselves that we possess a fixed quantity of one or the other. In fact, if managed correctly and in concert with good delegation and teamwork strategies, we can often surprise ourselves by what more we can do.

We just have to keep moving. And sitting still.