Reader, you know how people talk about their capacity like it’s a clearly defined thing?

We hear the phrase “I’m booked until January 2022” or “I’m booked 3 months out” thrown around a lot.

But I always used to feel mystified about what “booked out” really meant. How do you know you’re booked out??

I used to have ZERO CLUE what my true capacity was.

I’d get on a sales call with a prospective copywriting client, and they’d inevitably ask my when my soonest available start date was.

I’d literally open my calendar, glance at all the colored blocks, and pick a date that looked pretty free.

I’m not even kidding. It wasn't the greatest system.

As it turns out, vaguely choosing availability based on density of colored blocks on Google Calendar isn’t the greatest strategy.

I would inevitably over book myself and get stressed out with way too much copywriting work.

There had to be a simpler way.

I had dabbled in some of the complicated capacity planning methods, like time projections or fancy project management features, but nothing felt quite right.

As is true with a lot of things, simpler is better.

Back in 2020, I was sitting on a plane with no wifi and an open Google Sheets file, and two different ideas came together.

1. Dividing time by half days (not hours). Copywriter & stylist Tamara Glick had taught me how to divide my days into general half days, instead of hours (because dividing your day into tiny blocks of hours is tricky, and it's easy to overbook your time).

2. Using a simple spreadsheet (instead of some shiny software). Business Coach Ashley Gartland uses spreadsheets for so many things in her business, I love the simplicity. Inspired by her, I created a simple spreadsheet with blocks for my availability.

It's not pretty, but here's a snapshot of one of the weeks in the template:

When setting up my initial capacity plans, here's the process I walked through to map out my capacity:

1. Self awareness. What are the constraints? I know my general capacity is the ability to focus on 2 main tasks per day. So I divided each day into two blocks, max.
2. Filling in recurring projects. Then, I filled in the blocks that I already know I'm booked. For example, I generally spend all day Tuesday and Thursday 100% focused on one retainer client. So I filled Tuesday and Thursday with green.
3. Filling in planned projects. Then, I filled in blocks for half days I knew I already had projects booked. For example, “draft landing page copy for client X” takes a half day. And “kick off sales page research with client Y” is another half day. Certain projects are full days, like VIP days, or longer copy projects.
4. Block out vacation time or days off.
5. Add in available time. Then, I used the color white and the [ ] symbol to mark blocks of time that I didn’t yet have planned.

That’s the gist of it. I’ve now been using this spreadsheet for over a year now, and I feel completely aware of my capacity.

I’ve also introduced dozens of other copywriters to it and gotten really positive feedback. (Are you a copywriter or service provider looking to map your capacity? Reply to this email and I'll send you the free template).

Now, I know what booked out means: it means all my blocks are filled.

Capacity is a feeling: The final thing I’ve done to track capacity is to incorporate it into my weekly review.

I believe capacity is a feeling (as much as those fancy project management tools want to convince you that it’s an easily-identifiable formula). So I added a step in my weekly review where I select my capacity level:

Then, since I track capacity every week, I can see if I’m trending over capacity or under capacity. And instead of relying simply on “hours worked” as a metric, I can look at my capacity rating over months and months and see where I’m trending. Here's my capacity every week over the past few months. Check it out, I’m trending green:

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Since I really value space (brain space, creative space, space to do my best work), having space is really important to me.

When capacity feels good, I’m able to collaborate effectively, do my best work for clients, and give my all to team members and others who work with me. Everyone wins.
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How do you track your capacity? And what does "booked" mean to you?? Hit reply and share, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

-Annie