Wondering what right-sizing means?
In short, to right-size (also sometimes written as all one word, rightsize) is to focus on converting something to the optimum size.
I first learned the term at work, in the context of saving energy. For instance, for maximum energy efficiency you should right-size your pots to the burners on your stove while cooking. Too small and you have heat loss around the pan. Too big, and the pan’s contents won’t cook effectively.
In business and computing it is often used to mean looking for the option that is better and more effective than your existing one. Businesses may choose to right-size their staff numbers based on business conditions, so they don’t have the dead weight of extra staff, but also don’t cut too deeply and affect product quality or customer service. In the same way, you might choose your next laptop to have better specs than your existing one, but choose not to pay for extra features, memory and processing power that you don’t really need.
In all these instances you want the optimum size, the sweet spot, the right size.
A right-sized life – Why did we pick this title for our blog?
To us, right-sizing our lives means that we are constantly evaluating! We analyze everything carefully and take steps in the direction towards our goals, even when it may be difficult. We’re not looking for perfection, but the next step that will move us closer to our perceived ideal.
Most people naturally evaluate, but not everyone will choose to act on their findings, whether it’s due to fear, ego, waiting for the perfect time, or something else. We’re making choices that some may see as unusual, even risky, but we’re making them consciously.
I chose to leave my job, even though I liked it, it paid well, and I was moving swiftly up the career ladder because we wanted to homeschool and travel and knew those things would never be possible with me in that position. I wanted to be “that mom“.
We chose to move away from our nice house in the city in large part to save money, but also because we weren’t using all the space. It was too large for our needs, inside and out, and thus inefficient by all measures. We liked it, it was home and we were comfortable there. It was a tough decision, but we knew that was the right choice to help us achieve our goals.