Doing a lot at once

I'm no multitasker - I agree with the growing consensus that it's a bad idea. It overtaxes your brain and the tasks you do suffer because you don't concentrate as hard on them as you should.

Having said that, what I've always pride myself on is "doing a lot of things at once." In college I wrote for the school newspaper, had my own radio show for a spell, took internships, and had a load and a half of classes. It was overwhelming (and my work did suffer for it at times), but the most satisfying thing about this was I'd go back to my bed exhausted from doing so much. I felt like I'd earned sleep.

When I worked at the publisher I said once "I enjoy doing a lot of things at once," and this irked the publisher. He may have thought I said I "enjoy multitasking," which I don't. Unfortunately I got out of the habit by concentrating so hard on one thing: Writing a book. I devoted myself to it, working on it all day, every day for roughly seven months, to the mostly detriment of other things. Then it came out, and it was a huge disappointment for me. The publisher dismissed my work and inserted his own to compensate for what he thought were my failings. I hated seeing what I'd worked so hard on be dismissed so out of hand and replaced with sloppy, poorly-thought out content.

But, that's in the past. How am I to get back to the life I want? I've taken some inspiration from IVY, which I was a member of briefly. So many of the members were people my age who either started their own small business, or freelanced, or were very successful at corporate jobs (that last one's probably out of my reach for now), but they also devoted themselves to charities, entrepreneurial efforts, and other worthy causes outside of work. It was refreshing to see, since I'd devoted myself so much to work that I became defined by it, and when I couldn't do it anymore I lost my sense of purpose.

That last part is ridiculous. Nobody should define themselves by what they do for work, since that can change over time. I enjoy work, and I enjoy lots of varied types of work, but it doesn't define me.