Usually, having multiple skills and interests feels terrific. You can have conversations with people of different skill sets and solve problems in various professional settings. But, there’s a but.
Being multi-talented and multi-passionate also means tending to multitask, overwork, lose track of time, and just get lost. So, how do you, as a brilliant and amazing woman, simplify your life and stay productive?
Define what success means to you
If you think about it, one of the reasons you dedicated time to learning multiple skills is your pursuit of a certain kind of success – probably money since we’ve all heard the “there’s money in tech” mantra. Having the wrong measures of success increases the chance of derailing and getting overwhelmed, which means lower productivity.
Here’s the fix.
Tailor your success to something realistic. For instance, if you’re a beginner in the tech space, focus on understanding the concepts of that career path instead of monitoring your bank account. So, once your learning intentions are less quantitative, you’ll be encouraged to keep learning and be more productive. Money will come. It’s inevitable.
Declutter and resist the urge to multitask
When you’re multi-passionate, it’s normal to work on multiple items simultaneously, and sometimes even forget the next thing to do. You have so many email notifications from courses that you abandoned and your table or workspace is full of notes to go through. It’s just too much.
To stay productive, you must consciously resist the urge to multitask and keep many tasks open at once. Use a digital space (notes on your phone) or sticky notes (or a sheet of paper and a sellotape, really) to make a to-do list. I know you’ve heard it before, but seriously, to-do lists work wonders, especially if it’s staring you in the face.
I know I love the feeling I get when I tick off tasks on my list. It’s fulfilling in more ways than one.
Take breaks and rest
Don’t underestimate the power of sleep. I’m not going to tell you how many hours of sleep you need because it differs per individual. And seriously, who still sleeps for up to 8 hours daily?
Rest as much as is humanly possible, especially in between tasks. Your eyes, back, and neck need regular breaks to function optimally. The good and bad thing about not resting is that if you don’t take it consciously, your body will demand and take it by force. I’ll say it’s better to be in control.
Forget the noise and what seems like the competition
Your journey is different; the earlier you acknowledge that, the better. There are a million talented people worldwide. I’m not worried even though I’ve seen different shades of brilliance because I still haven’t met someone like me. It doesn’t exist, and that’s enough for me. That mindset gives me more time to focus on important things.
In conclusion, own your multi-talents with your whole chest. If there’s one thing to learn from COVID, it’s that whatever combination of skills you hold right now, there’s a career that absorbs it perfectly. Allow yourself to fail, fall, and learn. And on top of that, make as much noise about your journey as you’re comfortable with. When you put yourself out there, opportunities will knock.
*****
About The Writer
Halimat Chisom is a freelance writer and editor, a biotechnology graduate, and data analysis and bioinformatics enthusiast. She helps businesses and brands in the health, tech, lifestyle, and education industry with projects involving content strategy, and brand storytelling.
You can find her on Linkedin and read some of her works here.
