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by meadori
3612 days ago
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I feel like I am one of these people too. However, sometimes it seems really stressful (for me at least). I feel the pull of too many directions. Given such varied interests, how do you stay productive and get things done? Sometimes I feel like my life would be much easier if I could just focus on one or a small few things :-) |
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Yeah, it stresses me out too. Especially now that I have kids and my time is really limited, it's frustrating not being able to follow my interests as much as I like.
I try to do two things:
1. Deliberately triage my time. I intentionally choose what I'm not going to spend time on. It's really easy to ask myself, "Should I spend time on ___?" The answer is always "yes!" So, instead, I force myself to answer, "What am I not going to spend time on?" The only way one project can blossom is if I don't spread my limited sunshine too thin.
So, right now, there are tons of games I'd like to be working on that I'm not. I'd like to write fiction but I've decided not too. Likewise music. There's a ton of little experiments and one-off projects that I just say, "Eh, I don't really need to do this."
That helps me focus on the few things I am still doing. (Right now, it's a second book on programming language interpreters, my hobby language Wren[1], and to a lesser extent photography[2].)
2. The above point is too heartbreaking to do on its own. I care about all of my weird little interests and hobbies too much to bury them forever. So the other thing I do is remind myself that I'm not killing a project, I'm postponing it. It's not, "Am I ever going to do this?" It's, "Am I going to interrupt one of the other projects I have going on to do it right now?"
That makes it easier to put things on ice. I know there can be a point in the future where I'll get back to it. And, when I do, it will be more fun because I won't be overwhelmed by other projects.
I am also willing to table projects. With many things, I work on it for a while, and then put it down and work on something else. Sometimes it takes me years to get back to it. That used to bother me a lot but now I just figure it's how I work. (It does cause problems for stuff that's open source, though, because contributors may not want me to put it on ice.)
I do still feel stretched thin a lot, but it's not as crazy-making as it used to be.
[1]: http://wren.io/
[2]: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobisbob/