How can I increase my capacity?

It’s been a year since I underwent a holistic coaching and started my book writing. One of the advises to get it done was to just “do it tired”, however that wasn’t the case for me. I wasn’t just tired. I was exhausted. Despite starting 2025 hopeful, I found myself frustrated. It wasn’t until May that I found myself facing my concern on “not having enough energy”… or should I say capacity…

This blog is a continuation of how to build better habits this 2026. While the first blog post I did on that were advises and tips from friends who helped me out, this time I’ll share with you mine… and it all started with me wanting to increase my capacity.

Why Is it Important We Increase Our Capacity?

Capacity isn’t just about becoming more productive at work. From a Christian perspective, I see capacity as a means to steward well what God has blessed us with…. to partake in it.

• Our relationships
• Our jobs
• Our ministry

…and more

It’s more than just being able to do things tired.

So, how do we increase our capacity?

Building Habits That Matter

Building better habits — that’s how we increase our capacity.

It’s about taking small, intentional, steps that build our mind, body, energy, and even maximize our time. So, without further ado (and before I start rambling some more), here are the steps I did to build better habits.

Start with a Prayer

Yup! I started mine with prayer (everything is after all birthed in prayer). Let’s admit, if I wanted change, especially if we are confronted with the fact that we’re not really doing well, we need to get back to the Source. Since I believe God is my creator and I was created for a purpose, I prayed for wisdom and discernment (including courage).

Prayer is not about asking God for stuff. It’s about aligning ourselves with His plans. The beauty about it is I can’t lie. I just have to be honest — vulnerable and all — to what I think is wrong, what I need, what scares me, etc. There is nothing to hide. He sees everything after all. Praying led me to trust God within the next six months.

Yes, I was led to just move and give myself six months to get back-on-track (or just addressing what’s wrong).

Identify Non-Beneficial Activities

I confronted myself to obvious reasons that may be stealing my time — or should I say activities that aren’t beneficial to my mental, spiritual, and physical health. I can’t really say all of the activities I opted to give up were wrong. They weren’t just beneficial at the moment.

1. I found binge watching was doing more harm than good especially as I work as a QA specialist (I deal with content). While watching helped me relax after work (especially during weekends), it was undeniably frying my brains.
2. While reading online (using my phone) was a good alternative rather than binge watching, my eyes were always blurry from doing it.
3. While it’s good to finish 8 hours of work a day, I was allowing myself to still be online past 9pm sometimes.
4. I have been sitting longer hours to focus more on work, but not really moving as much as needed.

There’s actually more to this list which were revealed to me during those six months. Anyway….

After identifying activities which weren’t beneficial, it’s time to identify what habits to build.

Replace Non-Beneficial Activities with Beneficial Habits

After identifying non-beneficial activities, it’s time to replace them with beneficial habits.

Habit 1: Read physical books instead of binge watching or reading online

I love books but for the past few years I feel my reading has wasn’t as productive as it used to be. I was struggling to finish a supposedly “light” read and even saw my writing becoming dull. Fortunately, one activity I started 2025 with was listening to audiobooks.

I enjoy audiobooks and I have come to love a few classic novels and even memoirs. Suddenly, I found myself wanting to get the physical books after coming across a memoir with loads of highlight-able content.

I started reading physical books more and deleting my streaming sites except for a few I share with family. And since I found my English speaking skills dwindling at some point I also avoided Kdramas and Cdramas.

It wasn’t long till I was hooked at buying books (again) that now, for 2026, I have to resolve my credit bill payment (haha, sorry I got carried away).

After falling in love with reading physical books again, I was writing on my journal too. I also became hooked with using voice recording applications to record ideas and thoughts.

Habit 2: Lessen Screentime

Reading books didn’t just redeemed my braincells’ thinking (and even writing) ability, it also lessened my screentime. To be honest, my eyes were starting to feel the strain from watching content on my phone, reading items from there (which includes subtitles), and more. This led me to lessen my screentime more. In fact, I also had an inkling God wanted me to slow down on sharing thoughts on my Threads account.

To lessen my screentime more, I went back to the basics. I bought scratchpads to write ideas and even do mind maps. I even bought pocket notepads to take with me whenever I’d go out. I even have a small (pretty square journal) for thoughts I’d usually be tempted to post online (especially if these were just idea dumps).

I also continued my Audible subscriptions and got into audio recordings of fanfics on Spotify. And whenever I haven’t brought my Bible for breakfast, there’s always YouVersion with its audio readings.

Habit 3. Start work earlier and step away from the computer by 7pm

Something I’ve always wanted was to start working early. However, especially when I’m on meds, I found myself sleeping till 9am (or past it). Fortunately my book reading time made me sleep earlier.

Because of the need to rest my eyes earlier, I started closing my laptop by 7pm. I also messaged friends (especially those I do ministry with), that I won’t be available after that. From time to time I’d have dinner earlier to rest earlier (work ends by 6pm after all). To help me get excited to rest, I got back to reading novels.

I found myself excited to get out of work earlier to read a book. By 10pm my eyes are tired and I sometimes find myself waking up in the middle of the night holding a book with my glasses on.

To ensure my body clock adjusts, I started setting my phone alarms too (YES, alarms — plural — because I need multiple of them to wake up). I even have a reminder (to do) list alarm. Eventually, my body adjusted and I was waking up earlier, having breakfast, and logging in earlier. I was even enjoying work more.

At times, whenever I get extra time in the morning, I do my Bible reading (or listening) which eventually led me to also have Saturday Bible Studies with my friends.

I can definitely say I’m not a nocturnal anymore. I’ve become a morning person and I love it!

Habit 4: Enroll in a Pilates class

Waking up earlier made me want to do walking. However, my body is such a lazy bum. I’ve been promising myself to do it but end up breaking it. Even my brother held me accountable for it. That’s when the idea to get an accountability in the form of a coach came in.

I’m asthmatic so I wanted to do a slow exercise. Pilates came into mind a few times but I was scared to ask any studio before. However, last May 2025, I courageously messaged a nearby Pilates studio asking them if a person-with-disability like me can do it. Praise God they said yes — although not in a class but rather a private one.

While some have advised me to check out YouTube instead, I was reminded of a friend’s testimony of how her experience getting a coach helped her improve her exercise (and lessen any possible injuries). Considering my special needs, I enrolled in a Pilates session.

I am grateful the Pilates studio offers physiotherapy too and the coach was familiar with physical therapy. My coached assessed me and asked my concerns too and what I need to work on. After one session, I booked another, then another. It became a weekend thing. It didn’t take long when a few of my friends noticed the changes — actually I also did. It also helped me with my back aches (both due to sitting longer hours in front of the computer and my slouch whenever I read on the bed).

From my Pilates sessions I learned exercises that can help me with my arms and legs ( I walk with crutches). It also taught me proper stretching exercises (which also revealed why the stretching exercises I did years ago hurt my back more than relax it). Now, I have exercises I can do at home — which is now another hobby I need to build for 2026.

Find Your Rhythm

Doing things consistently doesn’t have to be daily. It’s about finding the rhythm that works for you.

• I read books every morning (a Christian book) and every evening (a novel). I also have a book I bring along whenever I go out.
• I listen to audiobooks every morning and every lunch time and whenever I do chores.
• I do Pilates every weekend and if I miss it I make sure to get back to it ASAP
• I have Bible Studies every Friday and Saturday with friends.
• I get up at 6am or 6:30am to fix breakfast (the latest would be 7am)
• I journal every other night (at least my thoughts)
• I start work by listing what I will be doing for the day and end work time by listing what I did and how I did it (journaling my progress)
• …and more

I still have loads to improve actually. But getting started somewhere, even if it’s just one habit after another works wonders.

Have an Accountability Partner

It doesn’t hurt to ask help, especially if you’re struggling to get started. I find having people to journey with makes it more fun.

• I enrolled in a coaching program to build my work system and to get started with my book writing
• My Pilates coach taught me exercises I can do at home but would also ask me every week which exercises I was able to do.
• I have my check up for my asthma every three months.
• I have my trackers and progress sheet shared with my Project Manager at work who sometimes give me inputs how to improve it.
• I asked a friend who is a financial coach to hold me accountable regarding finances (which now I am in a journey to pay off debts).
• I have my church mentor who loves to read remind me of my writing goals.
• I have my friends who do Bible study with me to ensure its consistency (and accountability).

I am not afraid of accountability to be honest. That is something I value. I am not even afraid to ask for prayers. However that doesn’t necessarily mean I listen easily to people and do what they say — I also filter. In the end the best accountability I have is God. So, I always turn to the Bible whenever someone would suggest stuff to me.

We always have to remember — we are all humans and we make mistake. It’s best to depend more on God.

Track Your Progress and Adjust Where Necessary

I have been tracking my progress as well. From time to time I check what’s working and what’s not. What I need to continue and what I need to improve. It’s best to celebrate wins as well.

For example, I am still not continuing the book I planned to publish but found that there are other works I have pending which can be published easily even if it’s just a PDF.

… and since I have my blog and this is actually me “publishing” my writing, why not maximize this too. After all I have ideas pending to be shared (just excuse the typos, I just write but I edit later on).

Tracking your progress and adjusting where necessary helps us see not exactly what we failed on but most importantly how our “wins” look (because it’s not always how we wanted it to be). It makes us appreciate the process too and see how we can help others because of it….

….like how I’m writing this blog.

Moving Forward to My “Why”

Now let’s go back to why I wanted to increase my capacity — my book writing.

I’m still a long way from finishing that book I wanted to write. But just for the sake of accountability, I’ll be releasing instead my Basic Calligraphy book and my So You Want to Work From Home coaching guide this year (hopefully soon). It may not be the book I planned but it’s something easier to achieve (for now) — call it a practice authorship thing.

… but till then, I can continue writing on this blog and my work as a QA specialist has even improved how I see written works. It’s been a while since I really wrote posts and even have them published on shorter intervals. However, this is something achievable for me at present (and something to get all those ideas in my head out).

I hope this guide to building better habits encourage you. You don’t need the new year to start something. Now is the perfect time. Just always pray for your plans and ask for wisdom — always ensure you’re doing it with God… after all, increasing our capacity is really to steward what He blessed us with including our purpose.