I worked on a side-project tonight, when I perhaps I should have been working on another side project. (Which has an earlier self-imposed deadline.)

So many side projects. This blog is one, too.

I used to feel like I needed to only focus on one side project at a time. Do one thing at a time, focus on that one thing 100%, and somehow, succeed.  We are not made to multi-task, the news stories tell me, so if I’m going to be my best self, I must not multi-task.

And yet, every time I would try to set myself a side project and focus my energies around it, I would fail. My attention would invariably turn elsewhere.

I would get bored, people.

But here’s the thing: I’m not listening to that story anymore.

My favorite day jobs have been the ones that felt like a three-ringed circus, where there was constantly going on and my attention was split three (or even four) ways. Yes, that split attention made it difficult to track everything that went on, but it was way more interesting and engaging to have to be “on” in so many arenas at once.

My current day job is a one-ringed circus. Sure, I’m able to focus, but it’s also hard to keep interest. Most work is not super-captivating, so one way to keep it fresh is to constantly switch gears.

This approach can be applied to my side projects. Instead of trying to focus 100% on one of them, I can cultivate a three-ringed circus of side projects that work synergistically to keep me interested, motivated, and productive.

Perhaps my personal challenge is not to do away completely with chaos, but to find the control within the chaos.

I am a high-openness, low-agreeability woman, after all.