MultiTalented Life

multitalented terms

I’m a MultiTalented person. And while that may sound like bragging, it’s just a word to describe someone who has multiple interests and maintains multiple projects.

I’ve always been MultiTalented. I’ve always had a zillion things on the go, from the time I was a teenager. I think that’s probably because of circumstance—as an immigrant, I had to work long hours while attending high school full time in order to help run the household.

I’m a very extroverted person, and social interactions are a must, so I still participated in extra-curriculars, too. So at 16, I was working 30+ hours a week, attending high school full time, and participating in various after school clubs on the two weekdays I had off.

While some kids would find that stressful or a drag, I thrived in that kind of fast-paced, bursting-at-the-seams schedule, for more reasons than one. And I still do.

When people look at the amount of projects I have on the go, they either think I’m crazy, or some sort of superwoman. I’m neither. I’m just someone who has multiple interests, isn’t afraid of trying new things, and loves to learn continuously: a MultiTalented person.

Until a few years ago, I didn’t know people like me had a name. I’ve never been a big fan of labels anyway, so I don’t need a name to define who I am as a person. But this is different. The names people like us have been given (or chosen) opens up opportunities instead of singling us out. Just listen to some of these names:

Scanner, meaning we love to scan things to learn as much as we can about as much as we can, multipotentialites, meaning we have the potential to become whatever we wish to become, multitalented (my personal favourite), renaissance soul…

All of these names show the world that we have huge potential if we just live life he way we know how to live it best: by experiencing many different careers, travels, and more, without choosing one path for the rest of our lives. If we choose to celebrate our multitalented nature.

In talking with one of my editors about the many different projects I take on, she suggested I might be a scanner and that I’d probably like the book “Refuse to Choose,” by Barbara Sher. I read that book, and it changed my life.

There’s a tonne of people out there who don’t want to/can’t/won’t settle for one career, one hobby, one path for the rest of their lives, and I’m one of those people.

I lived that philosophy in my writing career, where I completely ignored the advice to “niche down,” and did just fine, earning a good income working in various niches and writing in multiple formats. I even teach other writers to do the same, and don’t stick to just writing—I do editing and coaching, too.

If you’re like me, and you love to learn about many different topics, this is the section of the blog for you. Here I write about what it’s like to have various interests, offer suggestions on free courses you can take, and more.

Posts about the MultiTalented Life

I’ve found some awesome ADHD apps!

ADHD apps can help you remember stuff and organize your day to get things done.

Before I continue this post, I feel the need for a disclaimer. I have not been diagnosed with ADHD. Not yet. For a long time I didn’t see the point of a diagnosis for myself, but for various reasons I now think it may be a good idea to investigate. I suspect all the members of my family, except for my oldest daughter, have ADHD.

My son was diagnosed with it when he was 7. When I was reading the behaviours/symptoms for ADHD for his diagnosis, it was like reading an autobiography. I’ve always been easily distracted, I’ve always had a hard time sitting still, I’ve always misplaced or lost things, I’ve always interrupted people at inappropriate times (though I swear I’ve worked really hard at this and I’m really good about not interrupting now… most of the time), and the list goes on.

As an adult, I have developed many, many strategies for not forgetting things and for staying organized. Actually, I’m well known amongst friends for being well organized, but the truth is that it doesn’t come easily to me; I’m organized because I have to be. If I don’t write absolutely everything down, I’ll forget. If I don’t put things exactly where they belong, I won’t remember where I put them. Which is why I am so grateful for technology and how it can help those who like me, may be a little (or very) forgetful. Here are some apps I’ve discovered that help me so much in my day-to-day life. Maybe they can help you too, whether you have ADHD or not.

1. Habitica.

I’ve gushed about Habitica on here before (I’ve even added a heading all about Habitica on the blog). But really, if you’re forgetful and also a bit geeky, if you love gamification, and if you enjoy meeting folks on the same journey of self-improvement, Habitica may be for you.

It turns your life into a role playing game and your tasks into quests. Complete your tasks, and your avatar (character) advances through the game, earning you experience points, health points, and mana along the way. You can also get “drops” of pet eggs and hatching potions so you can collect your own cute little critters as you advance through the game. Then you get drops of food for the pets, which you can feed to them so they’ll grow into mounts you can ride. So much fun 🙂

As you complete your tasks, you also get gold, which you can then exchange for rewards that you set up yourself, or some cute things in the game. The game is totally free to play, but if you help Habitica out by subscribing, you’ll get even more cool little things for your avatar, but these don’t have any effect on the game itself, they’re just for fun.

2. ADHD Apps miracle: Galarm (yes, it’s been miraculous for me lol)

Of all the ADHD apps I’ve found so far, this is probably the one I’m most grateful for. Even though I don’t necessarily need the paid version, I’ve purchased it as an immense thank you to the developers for helping me not miss my appointments. Every time I book an appointment or someone books a time to meet, it now goes straight into Galarm. I set an alarm for an hour to 10 minutes prior to the event, depending on how long it will take me to get ready and/or get there.

Although our phones come with built-in alarms, they don’t have a lot of functionality—well, at least mine doesn’t. If I want to set a single alarm for a Wednesday 5 months from now, my built-in app only has the option for me to set that time recurringly every Wednesday until I delete it.

With Galarm, I can set a one-time alarm for far into the future, and I can also make notes about that event. The paid version allows you to set alarms for groups—very handy if you, like me, have a family of forgetful people.

3. Multi-Timer

Ever set a timer on your stove, your phone, or your watch, and then the alarm goes off and you don’t remember what it was for? Or set a timer for one thing on the stove, another on your watch, and another on your phone, all for different things, then need to set a fourth but there’s nowhere to do it? No? Just me? OK, let me explain.

I’m a homeschooling mom of three young children. At any one point in my home, I might be timing a typing lesson, a laundry load, dinner in the oven, or body break times. I can’t set multiple timers with my phone’s built in system. Enter Multi-Timer. With this app, I can set unlimited timers for whatever I want, and I can start those timers simultaneously. It also comes with a multi stopwatch built in. The only downside of this app is that the ads are so incredibly loud. Pay for the premium version to get rid of the ads.

4. Floating Notes

Do you love to write reminders on sticky notes and place it on your desk to remind you of something, but then you leave the house without looking at the reminder and forget anyway? This is the app for you.

With Floating Notes, you can write reminders of all kinds which will superimpose themselves on your phone screen, which means every time you look at your phone you’ll be reminded. But not to worry, you can still use your phone just fine. You can pin the notes to the side of the screen so they’re out of the way, and you can set transparency so you can still see behind them. When you’re done with the note, just drag it down to the bottom of the screen to archive it. Genius.

These are some of the ADHD apps I use to aid with my forgetfulness. Even though they may not have been created with ADHD people in mind, they certainly do help mitigate the effects of high distractibility.

Do you have any apps that help you remember stuff? Let me know in the comments! And don’t forget to check out the MulttiTalented Life posts on this blog to learn that having lots of interests is actually a good thing!