5 Patterns and tips for scanner personalities (Scanner series III)
In 2018, I discovered the idea of a certain personality type, one called “scanner” or “multipotentialite” by various authors.
Here are the other articles in this series:
On Being a scanner personality (Scanner Series I)
6 Strengths of being a scanner personality (Scanner series II)
5 Patterns and tips for scanner personalities (Scanner series III) (you are here)
4 challenges of my scanner personality that I still encounter regularly (Scanner series IV)
After some years now, I’ve developed a number of patterns that help me thrive as a scanner type.
Finish small, then accumulate
Remember the problem that many scanners don’t seem to finish anything, because they are always moving on to the next project? Even if you recognize this behavior in yourself, it might still be painful to “never finish anything”.
One possible approach is to learn, as mentioned in my older article, that you are under no obligation to finish anything. That’s right, even if you were to drop your projects at the next second, you’ll never have to pick them up again. You can be grateful for the positive energy of learning, creating, or entertainment that you derived from it, and that’s fine.
One approach that has worked for me is chunking projects into smaller, finishable pieces. Instead of trying to write a grand novel, I’ve switched to short stories. These allow me to get into the flow easily and often are done after a few hours of work. After I’d written a number of short stories, I’ve put them into a book — a short one, nevertheless, something to show (you can check it out here, if you like).
The same principle worked with my artworks, where I usually aim to finish a piece in one sitting, then post it on my Instagram profile, effectively putting it “out there”. It’s done then!
This allows me to switch often (write one day, do visually creative work the next) and I don’t get bored. It also had an unexpected side effect: I’ve learned to be a bit more patient. Some projects now take up to a week, but they are small enough to get done. And yes, there are also projects that are still left by the wayside even after several days of work. I’m OK with that.
Always identify the next step
Many times, especially with writing and coding projects, I leave them sitting around for a couple of weeks and then get the urge to get back to them. But it’s not always immediately clear how to proceed, where to direct the energy and interest in a project. I’ve started to follow a pattern that I call “identify the next step”. Looking at any project, I ask: what would be the next thing I can do?
If I don’t have an answer ready, then the next step is “brainstorm on this idea”. For instance, I’ve been meaning to rewrite and expand upon the original scanner article, but had no idea how to do it. So my “next step” was to re-read the article and gather ideas to integrate in a more expanded version.
Be ok with switching projects and having project phases
I noticed that my interests have phases. Barbara Sher categorizes scanners into different types based on their behavior. But like with most other things, we don’t want to fit into a single category.
However, I had to learn that sometimes I have a phase of constantly creating new artworks and after two or three months, the interest fades and I turn towards writing once again. During summer, I’d like to spend more time with sports activities and in winter, more indoor workouts.
Both are fine — I know I can come back to the interest that I haven’t worked on for a while and pick up where I left off. Combine this with the step about finishing small (if it works for your interests) and you can pretty much follow the flow wherever it leads you!
Learn to be proud of what you can do
Being happy aboutbeing a scanner type person is the first step. All the old conceptions of “how to start, do and finish things” need to be re-evaluated and integrated one at a time. If you felt that you were “doing something wrong”, or even that there is something “wrong with you”, this takes time to unlearn and replace with ideas that fit your life better!
Even though I’m now more than comfortable telling others than I’m a generalist and not so much of an expert, I still face doubts and insecurities, like we all do. I’ve listed some of them later on.
Being able to do different things, learn quickly, and draw connections is a good skill, and one that we can be proud of. In a society and a job market that is built on specialization, it can be very hard to proudly declare yourself a generalist.
If labeling yourself as a scanner type person settles some nagging questions and doubts about whether you live your days in the “correct way”, embrace it fully and learn what it means to you.
Experiment with tools
A notebook and/ or a project book and/ or a diary
One idea that Barbara Sher suggests is to get a notebook to simply collect all your ideas and thoughts. Here you will find all the space you need to doodle, take notes, draw maps, etc. for every project and interest. Just by taking down all ideas and giving them room creates a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. It also allows you to go back at any time, add new thoughts and re-use old ideas for other things.
I still have a large red book and it’s an invaluable resource to come back to, even if I don’t work with it every day.
Instead, I’ve moved on to using a smaller notebook (A5 format) to carry around. True to Da Vinci’s notebooks, I’m using it to jot down anything that comes to mind: random titles for stories or songs, brainstorming sessions, little drawings, cool quotes — all live next to each other.
Thinking with a pen is a fast way to fix thoughts. I wouldn’t miss it for the world! It’s coexists with my diary, which I use as a general place to record days. Whether you keep those journal types separate, or in one place is totally up to you and a great opportunity to experiment!
Apps to collect other ideas and resources
Depending on how your mind is organized, it can be helpful to employ some digital tools as well (maybe you go full digital and don’t want to write by hand). We are confronted with vast amounts of information every day, from email newsletters to WhatsAppSignalTelegram messages, TwitterRedditFacebook… it can quickly become tedious and overwhelming.
That’s why it’s good to find places to collect and review information. One such platform that I’ve overlooked for quite some time was Pinterest. I’ve since started to collect images for inspiration for many projects! (check it out here). I’m also a Evernote user, but to be honest, the structure of the app isn’t 100% useful to me, so I find myself saving information there more than I use it. It’s still good to keep some ideas quickly accessible and I could probably employ it more fruitfully.
In terms of collecting thoughts, I’m using OneDrive, where I get one terabyte of storage. It lives as a folder on my PCs and smartphone, so it’s basically a background sync service for my thoughts. All my pictures are in there, as are all digital project files. Regularly I find myself referencing this on the go and it’s very useful for my peace of mind: my important data is always safe!
It feels there is a new app and website for “organizing life” every other week. I’ve tried around a dozen already. Some of them aligned with my needs at the time, some didn’t.
Give yourself time to try them. If you don’t go back after a few weeks, it’s probably not the right tool for your mind and you can move on.
And in extreme cases, learn how to make your own tool! Currently, I’m working on a note app that relies heavily on linking notes to cluster them into useful groups, based on my experience that “everything is connected”. As soon as I get further along, I’ll share my progress here.
Project Boxes
This is an idea from Sher that I haven’t put it into practice. Her suggestion is to collect ideas and projects in boxes once you are “done” or don’t plan on continuing the project. This can be anything from shoeboxes to moving boxes and lends itself to “physical” hobbies or collections.
Add a label and a “why you finished” note to the box and shelve it — it will be there whenever you need it! Might be a good idea to organize your projects, if you haven’t had a chance to do so.
Thanks for reading! Let me know your hacks, tips and finding and you’re life as a scanner personality!
