three things

I can only keep track of three things at a time. Two really, but if I stretch my brain a tiny bit I can do three.

Two single-digit numbers? Cake. Two two-digit numbers: two columns and an extra register for the carries

the only way I can work with more than three things is to chunk them up into units made up of two pieces and a register

when I’m in flow it feels like I’m spinning plates, like I have a sprawling edifice supported by a thin pylon

the structure has to be built up slowly, correctly; adjusted carefully as it grows, and it is concentration that holds everything together

break the concentration and everything collapses