I recently finished reading Barbara Sher’s “Refuse to Choose!” (150 UAH, electronic version).
For many years I thought about the fact that people who have lots of ideas and interests in their heads are extremely unhappy people. Let’s argue from the opposite: there’s a person who has no ideas in their head, no interests, wants nothing in life. So they’re happy — they achieved nothing, but then they didn’t want anything either. The goal and the result matched. But a person who wants a lot is unhappy, because you can’t manage to do everything.
And I really didn’t think I would ever come across a book where this problem would be examined in detail.
Barbara Sher came up with a term for people like that, who are constantly trying something new, jumping from one activity to another — “scanners.” And in the book she looks at many different types of scanners and suggests methods for how scanners can live a full life.
For example, she recommends writing down every impulse, every idea in a special scanner’s notebook. To do this, you need to set aside a spread in the notebook, write down the idea, and start writing out some facts. Even this initial documentation of an idea can substantially ease a scanner’s suffering. The ideas are written down, your head is clear, and at any moment you can open the notebook, return to an old idea, and work on it some more.
And what about work that doesn’t give you the chance to do absolutely everything? Here the author recommends choosing a profession that would let you do many things at once. For example, a schoolteacher or lecturer — guaranteed three months of vacation a year. And in three months you can get a lot done. Or find an “umbrella job” — one that brings several interests under it at once. For example, consulting work is helping others, communication, professional development, travel, lectures, trainings, and the prospect of writing a book. Besides that, Barbara writes, like, why not make money from your interests and just open your own business?
The main idea of the book is: if several ideas or interests are “tearing you to pieces” at once, then you’re all right. You just need to learn to live with it and benefit from it.
If this is something you run into, I recommend reading it.