Why your organizing skills sucks as a multipotentialite and what to do about it

6 min readJul 19, 2022

Why your organizing skills suck

If you’re a multipotentialite and you struggle with organizing, it could be because the very things that make you good at your work are working against you.

One of the gifts of multipotentiality is boredom resistance. That means that if you get bored doing one thing, you’re more likely to jump into something new and exciting. But when it comes to organizing, this makes it difficult to spend time on projects that feel boring (like filing paperwork), or have no real payoff (like straightening up your desk). Even though these tasks would make a massive difference in your ability to stay organized and get stuff done in the long run, they don’t seem worth doing right now!

Another challenge for multipotentialites is prioritization. It can be hard to prioritize certain organizing tasks over others because we tend to see all our projects as equally important — even those that aren’t really going anywhere. Multipotentialites want everything, and we want it all now! And since we thrive on variety, we often ignore or postpone “boring” organizing tasks so we can jump into an exciting new project instead.

You are bored easily

The answer is yes.

Being easily bored can be incredibly frustrating and this character trait tends to cause a lot of stress in our lives. We’re made to do many things, aren’t we?

But here’s the thing: You can only focus on one thing at a time. And when you have so many interests and are easily bored, your mind will jump from one thing to another at lightning speed as you get distracted by shiny new ideas (it feels like it takes zero time for this switch to happen).

This is hard for people who aren’t multipotentialites to understand because they don’t experience their minds this way. People who are more focused on one specialty tend to take longer to switch between tasks because they are set on finishing what they started or want more closure before moving onto something else. I know that my dad, who is a doctor, told me once that he doesn’t like starting new projects while he’s working on an old project because he knows that his mind will be pulled in two directions.

You have a hard time prioritizing tasks

Here are a few more tips for improving your priorities and focus:

Create a list of your top 5 priorities (and make sure you share it with others so they can help support you).
Focus on the first thing on your list. Once that’s done, move onto the next thing.
Start filtering the tasks by importance and urgency. If something is urgent but not important, can it be delegated? If something is important but not urgent, when should you do it?
Ask your boss or someone else who is more experienced to help you decide which projects need to be prioritized.
Learn to say “no” and stop taking on work or projects that don’t align with your goals or values.
Learn to ask for help when you get overwhelmed (including asking someone else to set up boundaries for you). This might mean asking your co-workers to stop interrupting. It could mean hiring a virtual assistant if the constant emails and admin tasks are driving you crazy. It could also mean hiring a coach or therapist who can help hold space for what’s most important in your life right now.
Use time management techniques, like batching similar tasks together (e.g., spending one morning writing all of your blog posts rather than going back and forth between email, social media and writing).
Stop multitasking! Multipotentialites love doing lots of different things at once — but studies show that we actually accomplish less overall when we try to work on too many things at once.

You don’t like routine

You don’t like routine.

Routine is not for you. You don’t even want to hear the word. You know why? Because you are a consummate lover of change and novelty, and your brain has been wired that way since birth.

This is actually a good thing! And it’s possible that this trait is what makes you so good at what you do. Some people are just born with brains that get bored more easily than others, which forces them to seek out new things to do in order to keep themselves stimulated and engaged. It’s those people who end up doing a million different things — and getting very good at them — because they never let their minds become stagnant. So even if it feels like your organizing sucks, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you’re just really good at improvising and finding solutions when they’re needed most.

You are desperate to make everything fit with your schedule

The first step to making everything fit in your schedule is to accept that it won’t. This can be a tough pill to swallow when you’re used to being able to do everything, but keep in mind that it’s not just potentialities who struggle with fitting things into their schedules. It’s everyone.

As tempting as it is, don’t compare the realities of your life with other people’s outward exteriors. Other people have bad days too; you just won’t know about them unless they choose to tell you about it. If you focus on how busy other people are, how perfect their lives seem from the outside, and how much they seem like they’re getting done without having a nervous breakdown, then this will trigger your own feelings of guilt or inadequacy for not being able to do the same yourself — and those feelings of guilt and inadequacy will only make you feel even more insecure about your ability to get everything together and make it through each day without falling apart at the seams.

Focus on what really matters — the work itself. You will still feel guilty when you have to turn down opportunities because your schedule isn’t working out right now, but try not to worry so much about whether or not other people think poorly of you as a result of this choice; there’s no way for them know all of the things that are going on behind-the-scenes in your life anyway! Instead of focusing on what others might be thinking about you based on the choices that have been made now due time constraints or other reasons, focus on what matters most: making progress toward whatever goal(s) happen to be most important at any given time while still enjoying yourself along the way!

Your mind is full of ideas

As a multipotentialite, you probably aren’t happy with your current level of organization. But the fact that you suck at keeping track of your organizing system is not the problem. It’s actually a symptom of a deeper issue: Your mind is full of ideas.

You’re constantly coming up with new ideas — ideas to write about, ideas to help others, ideas for how you could make a difference in the world, ideas for projects to work on, and so on. Your head is absolutely swimming with stuff! This sounds awesome and fun, but it’s also incredibly draining.

The only thing that works 100 percent is being aware of your multipotentiality nature.

But let’s be honest, that’s not going to help you get organized any time soon. So what can you do? Here are a few things:

Understand why you need to organize: Most people can’t handle their lives when they’re unorganized, and you might be the exception. Ask yourself if your disorganization is holding you back from accomplishing things in life. If it is, then maybe it’s time for a change.
Find a system that works with your nature: Being aware of the fact that you like starting projects and leaving them unfinished is one thing, but actually doing something about it is another. You have to find a way to work with this aspect of yourself rather than against it. The best way to do this is by finding a system that works with your nature as opposed to trying to squeeze yourself into someone else’s idea of how you should live or work. For example, if I tried using my sister-in-law’s planning system (she has three different planners), I would be doomed because my brain simply does not function in that way — but she loves her planner method! We’re both multipods, but our systems must reflect our unique needs for them to work well for either one of us!
Find a system that works with your lifestyle: Try experimenting with different organizational styles until something feels natural and intuitively makes sense for how your mind operates; don’t just grab whatever looks pretty off Pinterest because other people seem like they have their shit together (this goes without saying).