Focus

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about focus, not just the concept but the real gritty decisions that come with choosing what (and who) to give your energy to.

It's the end of May as I write this. The past six months have been transformative. I started my first full-time job at a startup. I co-founded a non-profit with friends to organize a music festival on the beach. I moved to Brussels alone where I still need to build a more social life from scratch and some side projects I want to go further with.

All of it felt exciting. It made sense and felt right for where I want to go. But as things started moving faster, I began to feel worn out. Like I'm trying to keep too many things going at once, and some are starting to slip. And it's not just about the work. It's also all the thoughts running through my head, making it hard to focus.

The context switching is exhausting. I catch myself letting people down, not out of lack of care but because there are simply too many things asking for my attention and not all of them can be answered at once.

What's been hitting me the hardest is the lack of space. Free time has become a rare luxury. The open mental bandwidth that lets you explore new people, ideas or random interests just isn't there. And without that, life feels narrower than I want it to be. Less curious. Less alive.

Work especially, has surprised me with how intense it can be. It's the real startup chaos, demanding, time-consuming and full of unknowns. Some weeks, I feel like I'm barely keeping up. I'm responsible for things that sometimes slip, and I've had to own that. Learn from it. Take the feedback and keep going.

I've come to realize something simple but powerful: you can't give 100% to multiple different things. That's not focus. That's dilution. And diluted energy rarely leads to meaningful outcomes.

After this summer, I've decided to step away from the non-profit and a few other commitments so I can fully focus on one path. It's not an easy decision. I know some friends will be disappointed. I've truly enjoyed working with them and creating something that brings people joy. But the way things are now doesn't really fit with where I want to go next.

The moral of the story? I need to say "no" more often. Prioritize with long-term goals in mind, even when it stings in the short term. It's not about doing everything. It's about doing the right things, deeply and fully.

That said, I'm still feeling good, just in a busy season, learning a lot. This moment has taught me something and I wanted to write it down. A reminder for future me of what it felt like to pause, reflect, and choose focus over doing it all.