Well, it looks like the universe didn’t appreciate me bragging about my sleep score last week.
Because Wednesday morning (when the newsletter was scheduled to come out) I woke up, got a speck of dust in my eye, and managed to scratch my cornea.
To make matters worse, I had my very first Office Hours that day, which is a big deal when you’re running your own business and you’re the only one who can host it. I was flailing around the house trying to flush my eye, half-blind, half-panicking, and quite frankly yelling a few choice swear words.
But here’s the thing: I still did my Office Hours. They went great. And then, later that day, I went to urgent care.
Now, this isn’t a “push through it!” story. It’s also not a “listen to your body immediately!” story.
The real lesson was this: you need to put a timeline on your tolerance.
I said to my husband, “I’m doing my Office Hours, but if the pain isn’t better by 1 p.m., I’m going to urgent care.”
I stuck to it, and at 1:05 I was on my way to get checked out.
Set Your Red Lines Early
In supply chain, this is called a control limit - the point where something moves from acceptable variation to unacceptable deviation.
You don’t fix a process the first time something blips, and you don’t ignore a trend forever either. You define your limits ahead of time:
“If this machine produces five defects in a row, we stop the line.”
“If inventory drops below 10 units, we reorder.”
It’s not emotional; it’s procedural.
And it’s the same thing I did with my eye - I defined my threshold before the pain made the decision for me.
Everyday Control Limits
You can set up your own control limits in all sorts of areas of life. Here are a few examples:
The Work Overload Rule
“If I’m still working past 7 p.m. three nights in a row, I’m going to speak to my boss about my workload.”The Health Hesitation Rule
“If I’ve been feeling off for more than 48 hours (not a moving 48 hours, write down when it started!) and it’s not improving, I’ll call my doctor.”The Relationship Energy Rule
“If every interaction with someone drains me for a full week, I’m going to take a step back and set a boundary.”The Tech Trouble Rule
“If I’ve been troubleshooting something for more than 20 minutes with no progress, I’m going to ask for help or walk away.”The Money Leak Rule
“If I notice the same subscription or expense annoying me twice, I’m canceling it the third time.”
Why It Works
When you set your “control limits” early, you’re protecting both your time and your energy.
You’re not reacting - you’re deciding in advance what deserves escalation.
It’s not about toughness or weakness.
It’s about knowing your thresholds and honoring them before burnout, frustration, or injury decide for you.
And honestly?
I’ll take that kind of process improvement over an (almost) perfect sleep score any day.
