How do you generalists out there divide your time?

2 points by wunderlust 12y ago ↗ HN

Although there's a lot to be said for specialization - of skills, careers, and interests - the historical figures I've always found most inspiring were generalists (polymaths, at the extreme). There's some debate around the topic, but I, and probably others, would love to hear from people who manage several different interests.

I'm not a real hacker, or programmer, or anything really, yet. But I've always thought of myself as more of a generalist than a specialist. Maybe that's why I'm not (or don't feel like) a "real" anything so far.

If anyone has any concrete experiences to share on this, I'm sure it'd be greatly appreciated. (E.g., to-do lists, schedules, mind maps, other organizational tools, etc.; but also ways of thinking and organizing your thoughts)

3 comments

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gk1 12y ago ↗

I've found that I'm more productive when I focus on one thing per day, instead of trying to focus on multiple things at once. One day I'll do consulting work[0], another day I'll learn something new, the next I'll work on side projects[1], etc.

It helps to have task lists[2] and calendars for all your projects. This way you won't feel pressure to remember everything at once. If everything is documented and scheduled, you can focus on one thing and put everything else aside (temporarily).

[0] http://www.gkogan.co

[1] http://www.gagcartoons.com

[2] I really like Subtask for task tracking (http://www.subtask.com), though I rarely see them mentioned here.

iamwithnail 12y ago ↗

I use a variety of things to GSD.

http://www.workflowy.com for high level stuff / to-dos. http://www.basecamp.com for actual projects - always. http://www.evernote.com for note taking - often I'll paste links to the Notes into workflowy. I tend to use separate mailboxes and calendars for different things (so http://www.gmbl.io, http://www.granttree.co.uk and my PhD all have separate things), but it's amalgamated together in Google Calendar so I can turn them on and off depending on what I'm doing.

I also use HipChat for group chat (two versions, one in the client for work, one in the browser for personal projects.)

phantom_oracle 12y ago ↗

By generalist, do you mean somebody who has interests beyond a computer as well? For example, maybe you like doing carpentry work too, or you paint or play musical instruments?

I'm beginning to think that a generalist is an ideal entrepreneur. Somebody that can pick things up quickly but pick up "just enough" to make use of the skill without turning into a master.

Prioritizing is probably a good way to get things done. However, I am still trying to figure it out myself as well.