Trapped in Survival Mode: How “The Tunnel” and “The Firefighting Trap” Limit Bandwidth and Hope

Think About This for a Moment…

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by too many demands on your time or money, constantly juggling responsibilities, only to feel like you’re not making any progress? Now, imagine living with that feeling every single day—where survival itself consumes all your mental bandwidth.

Scarcity

Scarcity is having less of something you need. That could be money, time, opportunity, energy, or resources. Each person’s needs may be different, but we all share a finite bandwidth with countless demands pulling at it.

My original interest in the book Scarcity was to gain insight into time management. I thought it would help me use my hours more effectively. But as I read, I realized this book contains so much more. What started as a primer in time management led to discussions on how individuals manage their resources.

For Me, It’s Personal

The authors explore how scarcity affects our behavior, thinking, and decision-making. I was particularly drawn to discussions about how the poor manage money, time, and their lives in general. I have always been deeply interested in homelessness and the struggles that lead individuals there—because I was almost one of them.

Years ago, I went through a divorce that left me in a dire financial and emotional situation. At times, I lived in extremely difficult conditions—not homeless, but essentially squatting. During the worst months of winter, I stayed in a house with no working heat. I relied on a small portable heater, the fireplace, and an oven turned up with the door wide open. I don’t share this for sympathy—I share it to illustrate how quickly life can change.

Fortunately, I had leverage: I was a college-educated, former high school math teacher. That leverage is what pulled me out. My goal now is to find that leverage in those who are struggling. Everybody has value.

What We Will Explore

In this post, I’ll examine two key concepts from Scarcity—”The Tunnel” and “The Firefighting Trap”—to shed light on why escaping hardship, especially homelessness, is far more complex than simply making better choices. When survival consumes all mental energy, long-term solutions become nearly impossible to pursue.

Horse Blinders: Living in ‘The Tunnel’

“The Tunnel” is when survival takes priority over everything else—long-term planning, self-improvement, and even hope for change. After my divorce, my finances were a disaster. I had worked for a landscape company in the Midwest, where winter meant three months of unemployment. To make ends meet, I took a part-time job at a grocery store.

My divorce was finalized at the end of January, and I immediately fell behind on child support payments for my four children. Then came the credit card companies, the car loan collectors, the insurance providers—all demanding money I didn’t have. Because my income was too low to cover my full child support obligation, half of my wages were garnished.

Every decision became about making it to the next day. I had no mental space—no bandwidth—for long-term planning or improvement. I didn’t suddenly become less intelligent. I wasn’t unmotivated. If anything, I was incredibly motivated—to survive. My immediate needs overshadowed everything else. So, man I get it. Life becomes overwhelming.

Whack-a-Mole: The ‘Firefighting Trap‘

The “Firefighting Trap” is when people in scarcity are constantly putting out fires. One crisis is barely resolved before another erupts. Chasing after each urgent problem exhausts bandwidth, depletes resources, and leaves no time or energy to address the deeper issues that keep people trapped.

Many homeless individuals are caught in this cycle—juggling urgent problems like food, shelter, and safety—without the bandwidth to focus on long-term change.

Why This Matters

Many believe that the homeless have simply ‘given up’—that they lack the willpower or motivation to change their situation. But Scarcity challenges this notion. It shows how living in constant crisis mode drains mental bandwidth, making long-term planning nearly impossible.

Many homeless individuals are stuck in “The Tunnel,” where survival demands all their focus, and in “The Firefighting Trap,” where they’re forced to put out one urgent fire after another—finding a meal, securing a safe place to sleep, avoiding danger. 

They don’t lack intelligence or ambition; they are overwhelmed by immediate needs, trapped in a cycle where there’s never enough time, energy, or stability to plan for the future. If anything, the homeless are making incredibly difficult decisions every day just to get by—often with far fewer resources than most of us could imagine.

But What Can I Do?

I spend a silly amount of time thinking about ways to help homeless individuals climb out of their plight. Maybe a place to start is with empathy—understanding that bandwidth limitations dictate the choices people make in the moment, often at the cost of long-term improvements.

Instead of focusing on “the homeless problem,” we need to shift our focus to “the homeless solution.” That means looking critically at the programs in place to help—ensuring they provide real pathways out rather than simply moving homeless individuals from one location to another.

Open dialogue. Ask the right questions in a way that meets homeless people where they are. Since the homeless live in-the-moment lives, try asking, “What can I do for you right now that would help?” Build small steps that lead them out of The Tunnel.

Restructure assistance programs. Maybe the issue isn’t that the homeless fail; maybe the programs designed to help them fail. We need initiatives that genuinely support long-term stability rather than simply responding to public pressure.

Breaking out of “Tunneling” and the “Firefighting Trap” requires both individual effort and external support.

Be the Light

I was able to find my way out of the tunnel, but it wasn’t easy, and it took a long time. Slowly, my bandwidth opened up, and I began to see resources I hadn’t been able to recognize when I was deep in survival mode.

Many homeless individuals are still stuck—not because they lack intelligence, but because they lack the mental space to see a way out. Be their light. Help them find their way.

Start With One

Be the one who brings hope to another. You don’t have to change the world all at once—just start with one person, then another, and another. Change begins one life at a time.

I Leave You with This…

If you were stuck in a tunnel with no light ahead, what kind of help would you need to escape?

Peace.