Ten Pounds in a Five Pound Bag
Inspired by on Lenny's Podcast
Your kid's schedule is not a Mary Poppins bag. You cannot fit infinite activities into finite time.
Ryan Singer quotes Bob Moesta: "You can't put 10 pounds of crap in a five pound bag."
This is your Saturday. Soccer practice, birthday party, grocery shopping, "quality time," homework, bath, and somehow also a relaxed family dinner. You have scheduled ten pounds of activities into a five pound day.
And then you're surprised when everyone's melting down by 4pm.
The Shape Up method says: figure out your real time budget FIRST, then design something that actually fits. What's your actual Saturday capacity? Maybe it's one activity, one errand, and a lot of nothing. Maybe that's the five pound bag.
We keep trying to scope-creep our family's time because everything feels important. But the math doesn't lie. Ten pounds will not fit. Something will break - usually your kid's emotional regulation, or your patience, or both.
What's your real time budget? Design your day to fit inside it.
PM Theme: Scope management and constraints
Parenting Theme: Avoiding overscheduling
“I think I'll quote Bob Moesta, who's been on your show a couple times, 'You can't put 10 pounds of crap in a five pound bag.' So, it's a high academic statement and we can't just take any project, no matter how giant it is, and then throw it at a team and say, 'Figure it out and ship something meaningful in six weeks by cutting away scope.'”Ryan Singer · 00:25:50
