What Is Over-Diversifying Your Time?
Over-diversification is the concept of spreading yourself too thin across multiple tasks, goals, or projects. When simultaneously juggling too many projects, pursuing multiple hobbies, and trying to maintain a large number of relationships, it becomes difficult to keep up. Over-diversifying is a common problem when starting to improve yourself. Be it through wanting to start a business or develop numerous skills. This problem stems from the urge to do everything you want to achieve right now, in this moment, and continue to progress in all your areas defined for improvement or business aspirations.
The Problem: Misaligned Energy and Goals
I have dealt with this problem many times in my life and still run into it from time to time. It creeps up on you when you think everything is going well and you are smoothly progressing. But when you look back in hindsight, you realize just how much you were doing. At one point I was running 2 TikTok accounts, 2 Instagram accounts, 2 blogs, a business, all whilst developing some other skills and doing certifications. It’s no wonder I was unable to function after a while.
Focusing on too many projects or goals at once can be detrimental to your efficiency. It can cause a disconnect between your available energy and the demands of your tasks, making it challenging to maintain concentration. As a result, it becomes difficult to dedicate the necessary attention and effort to any one project, creating inefficiencies in task management. Although you may begin multiple endeavors with enthusiasm, the dispersed focus can lead to a lack of motivation and energy to complete them, ultimately resulting in unfinished work and a sense of disappointment.
The Consequences of Over-Diversifying
Burn-out
Only a few weeks ago, I realized that I was doing too much and it was only a matter of time before I burnt out. The worst thing you can do is stay working at the same rate in this situation. Burnout and mental exhaustion are imminent and instead of coming up with countermeasures, you’re continuing on a path to destruction.
Motivation and discipline seem to go out the window not long after this. By this point, it is almost too late to recover. Your hard work and routine which you have built have been decimated. All because of this build-up of work you were doing beyond your current capacity. When you put yourself in what I like to call energy debt, you wipe the slate clean of all your progress. Unable to carry on the next day because the feeling that drove you no longer remains.
What then ensues is a period of wasted time consisting of lounging around and sleeping significantly more. This is the body saying “I’m done, I’m not following this regime anymore. I want some relaxation time”. You can try to fight against it but it is an upward hill battle. It takes between a few days and a few weeks to recover, depending on the extent of the damage. Burn-out is a serious problem and a momentum crusher, so being aware of the right tells and checking in with yourself regularly is key to keeping it at bay.
Lack of Focus
The fact you are over-diversifying becomes glaringly obvious when you begin struggling to fit in all your tasks within the allotted time. Ending up working over the planned hours and having to move tasks to the following day, thus destabilizing your schedule. You may also find that you struggle to focus and can not find time to do other things such as hobbies and relaxation time. As a result, you gravitate towards them even during your working hours. If this is the case you know that you are overworking yourself and the cracks are beginning to form.
Incomplete or Low-Quality Work Due to Divided Attention
By over-diversifying, you may struggle to organize your tasks effectively based on your available energy, creating a disconnect between your goals and the energy needed to achieve them. This leads to the inability to exert your best in dealing with more difficult assignments leading to mediocre results, limiting your growth, and causing you to feel worse. Your brain needs time to reinforce the concepts learned and rest.
This means it’s time to re-evaluate your strategy. In a 9-5 job, even though people work 8 hours. You have to ask yourself, how much of that is actually work. When you break it down, productive work has a large range sitting between 2 and 8 hours depending on the discipline. This highlights the possibility of working productively the whole time. However, most people simply aren’t achieving this, but it is something that can be built up to.
Frustration From Slow Progress Toward Goals
You may also feel dissatisfaction that your progress towards all the goals is slower. This is due to the large number of tasks being done in combination. Which builds a growing sense of overwhelm as tasks pile up. If you feel this frustration then it’s time to take a step back and reanalyze your workload.
How To Avoid Over-Diversification and Build a Routine to Last
Energy is Limited
It’s important to acknowledge that energy and time are finite resources. Regardless of your motivation level, there is a limit to what can be accomplished in a single day. Trying to fit every task into a rigid one-week schedule is often unrealistic, especially when dealing with a long to-do list. Some days will naturally offer more energy and time than others.
Embrace Flexibility
Recognizing this reality, it is crucial to be flexible with your routine. This doesn’t mean pushing tasks to tomorrow when they should be done today. Rather, it means being open to rearranging tasks based on current workload and feasibility. If a task from tomorrow aligns better with what you’re working on today, make the switch. Similarly, if it is sensible to shelve one of today’s tasks with other related ones on a different day, adjust your schedule accordingly.
However, avoid deferring less enjoyable tasks just for the sake of procrastination. Maintaining discipline is crucial. The goal is to maximize efficiency and reach your goals faster. Since task durations are not always predictable, if you finish your work early, take the opportunity to reduce the workload for that day.
Identify Your Peak Times
You have likely experienced being in the “zone” while working at some point. This state of complete focus is when you are most productive and engaged. Pay attention to the times when you naturally experience this heightened focus. Ideally, you should aim to work during these periods as they maximize efficiency and creativity. Often, these peak times occur consistently around the same time each day. For example, you may find your focus heightened in the early morning from 7 AM to 10 AM and late at night from 11 PM to 2 AM like me (although it may be challenging to fit both into a single day).
Allocate Time Slots
Once you have identified your peak times, structure your schedule to accommodate these periods of focus.
Manage Energy Peaks and Troughs
Throughout the day, your energy levels fluctuate. There are times of high energy and times of low energy. Assign tasks according to the required energy levels. For example, if your energy is lower in the morning, focus on less intensive tasks like checking emails. Save high-energy tasks that require more focus and concentration, such as coding or designing, for your energy peak times. Additionally, it is beneficial to assign less demanding tasks later in the afternoon when energy levels may dip. Understanding your energy cycles will enhance productivity and contribute to a sustainable routine.
Determine Your Starting Point
Consider how many hours you can work efficiently without significant breaks. Write down your estimate and test it from a few days to a week, to see if it aligns with your prediction. Adjust your estimate based on your actual performance during this trial period. This average becomes your starting point. It’s important to ensure you can still function outside this designated time frame. If the starting point proves to be too much, reduce it to avoid burning out.
Avoid Over-Diversifying
To avoid over-diversifying:
- Prioritize a smaller number of high-impact goals: to improve task management. This will allow you to concentrate your efforts where they can have the greatest impact.
- Utilize energy mapping: to align tasks with your natural energy levels. Focus on high-energy tasks during your peak times and reserve lower-energy activities for later in the day.
- Implement time blocking: to dedicate specific time slots to essential priorities, minimizing distractions and ensuring steady progress.
- Practice saying NO: to new projects or commitments that could spread your focus and energy too thin, enabling you to maintain clarity and efficiency.
Continuing your Journey
Once mastery has been achieved in a particular skill, the energy required to maintain that proficiency decreases significantly. This presents an opportune moment to introduce a new skill into your routine or rotate out a skill for which you feel confident and satisfied with your current level.
However, regarding tasks as opposed to skills, mastering a task opens up the possibility of delegation. Once you have become proficient in a task, consider training someone else to handle it, allowing you to offload responsibilities and free up valuable time for more strategic or specialized work. Delegating tasks once mastered lightens your workload and enables you to focus on higher-level objectives and areas where your expertise can have the most impact.
Conclusion
In summary, while diversification may initially seem beneficial, over-diversifying can lead to a misalignment between your energy level and your goals. When your focus is spread too thin across numerous tasks, giving adequate attention to each one becomes challenging, often resulting in burnout and frustration. Effective task management involves understanding and managing your energy and focus. By simplifying, prioritizing, and aligning your energy more strategically, you can make meaningful progress toward your goals while maintaining balance and avoiding overwhelm.
