How many things/hobbies/actions can you effectively handle?

[hawkal]

As Seneca once said "To be everywhere is to be nowhere". When do you know you have too much on your plate?

By which I am referring to your ability to do things effectively and see positive returns on your investment of time and maybe money.

[Mounds]

I think about this type of thing a lot. Currently, I'm working it at an angle that there are three types of currency - money, time and energy. They can either be spent or invested. In general, I find investing results in more overall returns while spending any of the currencies results in immediate pleasure but then it's gone.
To elaborate, take a book. It takes money to buy it, time to read it and energy to process it. That can either be currency spent or an investment. I've read a number of personal finance books which I now regard as mentally exhausting, rather boring entertainment since I never actually did anything with the information I read. Then I took the time to actually implement what I read from one book and suddenly it became an investment. My money has never been the same (for the better .
I'm currently in the process of figuring out how much I can handle so I'm not going to be able to answer your question per se. What I do notice is that by handling those three currencies effectively, you can handle much more than you currently believe.
Once I have figured it out, I'll have to write a book or a report on it. I like to call this the autopilot system but it's far from complete. A while ago, I thought I was nearly there. Now I feel like it's still pretty far out.

-Tim

[sandy]

These days I am trying to *single task* only.
It's a good way for me get less overwhelmed and *keep my cool*
I try to arrange just one or two essential activities for my day and focus on it, try to enjoy myself from it, and do the rest of *petty things* in a batch, which helps me deal with *clutters* much effectively

[AlexWork]

In my case, I have found that I gotten much better productivity and pleasure out of doing fewer things. The reasons being...

Mastery-- By spending more time on fewer things, I am getting better at them. And getting better at something is surprisingly fun. Getting really good at something is even funner, and mastering it, well, that's just awesome.

Multi-tasking is a Myth--We're not all going to be great at everything. We don't need to be. There's this misconception that to succeed in today's world you need to be able to multi-task, juggle assignments, blah blah blah. Instead of being given one thing to do exceptionally well, we're expected to take on dozens of things. The end result is that we do a mediocre job at all of them.

Fewer Actions/Tasks/Hobbies Lends Itself to Amazing Focus-- By simplifying as much as possible, we are able to throw tremendous amounts of focus and thought at the things we truly want. More often then not, this lends itself to great results.

As Sandy mentioned in the post above as well, I have found that patience and "keeping my cool" is a lot easier when you aren't feeling rushed by the completion of multiple items.

Do one thing great.

[Brutha]

I think it's a mistake to think in terms of some optimum level of stuff that can be handled.
You should always think about where you can cut stuff.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Mounds

I think about this type of thing a lot. Currently, I'm working it at an angle that there are three types of currency - money, time and energy.

My angle is another kind of currency.

It's called thought.

Basically, most of us waste a lot of it. We think continuously throughout our waking hours, but a lot of it is frivolous, random and repetitive meandering.

So what I often do is consciously decide on what I'm going to think about. Eg suppose I am walking from Point A to Point B. Most people would just walk, and as they walk, their minds will flit and drift aimlessly from one stray thought to another stray thought.

What I would do is decide, at the start of the walk, a useful topic that I am going to think about. Eg I may decide on a topic like "Investment Ideas" or "Holiday Activities for the Kids" or "How to Progress in my Career".

And as I walk from Point A to Point B, I'll just stay focused on my topic and keep thinking about it.

[Federer]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

My angle is another kind of currency.

It's called thought.

Basically, most of us waste a lot of it. We think continuously throughout our waking hours, but a lot of it is frivolous, random and repetitive meandering.

So what I often do is consciously decide on what I'm going to think about. Eg suppose I am walking from Point A to Point B. Most people would just walk, and as they walk, their minds will flit and drift aimlessly from one stray thought to another stray thought.

What I would do is decide, at the start of the walk, a useful topic that I am going to think about. Eg I may decide on a topic like "Investment Ideas" or "Holiday Activities for the Kids" or "How to Progress in my Career".

And as I walk from Point A to Point B, I'll just stay focused on my topic and keep thinking about it.

I have heard about this example. But it was on zenhabit topic. Is it connected with zen realism?

[aelle]

In my case, the saying "if you want something done, ask a busy person" is true. The less I undertake, the less I finish and the less passionate I feel about my life. When I have plenty on my plate, I somehow switch to a higher gear and keep on going. Action breeds action. Passion breeds passion.

[Brutha]

I have heard about this example. But it was on zenhabit topic. Is it connected with zen realism?

Everything is connected with zen. Trying to build a giant theoretical framework around it goes against the nature of zen.

[Federer]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Everything is connected with zen. Trying to build a giant theoretical framework around it goes against the nature of zen.

Interesting.

[WarrenG]

Interesting topic, but I don't think anyone can say to the number, because of the nature of 'things'.

For instance, different things take up different amounts of effort. Also, things might involve several other sub-things.

Furthermore, there are other things which are basically continuous, such as being self-employed, which can take up 100% of your time if you let it. So you force yourself to stop, but it's on your mind when doing other things. I think if people are good at switching off and forgetting about certain things, they can probably handle more.

Also, some things are chosen and others are externally imposed. It might be easier to do two different jobs, but harder to do two different hobbies, for instance. Or vice versa.

And if things are in different domains, that can be good too. Having two things in the same domain drains the same resource, for example a labouring job and a bodybuilding hobby.

For me personally - one big one that I care about, and several others that I do if I get chance, but don't particularly care about if I don't. Right now, unfortunately, I have a few big things at once, and working on culling.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Federer

I have heard about this example. But it was on zenhabit topic. Is it connected with zen realism?

Nah.

It arises from the Law of Attraction.

If thoughts create reality, then you ought to think constructively.

[escapeplan]

Interesting ideas from mounds and alg on currencies. I'll think about that some more.

[goldberg]

Originally Posted by hawkal

As Seneca once said "To be everywhere is to be nowhere". When do you know you have too much on your plate?

By which I am referring to your ability to do things effectively and see positive returns on your investment of time and maybe money.

Well if you want to master something and want to be the best at it then I would say you can only focus on that one thing.

[SatvikBeri]

Originally Posted by hawkal

As Seneca once said "To be everywhere is to be nowhere". When do you know you have too much on your plate?

By which I am referring to your ability to do things effectively and see positive returns on your investment of time and maybe money.

Personally I like to do things that have great synergy with each other.

For example, exercise synergizes with almost everything, because being healthy makes you more effective in every area of your life.

Exercising with people you want to spend time with is even better. So is exercising while listening to audio courses.

If you have a hobby or side job, try to make it as related to your main job, or your overall passions, as possible. For example, investing can make you a better banker, and help you make more money. Learning computer programming can help you in a wide variety of jobs. And so on.

Improving your memory will help you in many study related areas, which is why I plan to start the pmemory course in a few weeks.

The key here is *not* to try and do multiple things at the same time-it is to do things with a lot of overlap, so that your time is well spent.

Edit: Synergy can be found in a lot of unexpected places. Josh Waitzkin was a Chess Grandmaster who later became a Tai Chi world champion, and frequently applied the skills he learned in Chess to Tai Chi-in fact, his book contains quite a few examples of interesting synergies, with the overall goal being to incorporate his full personality into everything he did.

[faithsdaddy]

Originally Posted by hawkal

As Seneca once said "To be everywhere is to be nowhere". When do you know you have too much on your plate?

By which I am referring to your ability to do things effectively and see positive returns on your investment of time and maybe money.

A lot depends on your commitment and the requirements of each aspect. If you're looking to win the Olympics at say swimming, then that comes first and anything that interferes with it has to go. If you're juggling photography and learning a language, then the requirement is lower and you can do more things.

From an analytical point of view, check how long you need to spend on each item to a) maintain b) improve and c) excel. Then decide how much influence to give each according to your what feels right for you.

I tend to chop and change my many interests depending on time, interest, state of finances, etc. What I would say is that life is short. Find a way to do everything that's important to you.

[Quantum Blue]

Well, let's see, there's body building, reading, readings, trip reports, gardening, making furniture, yakking it up, hiking, road tripping, going to weird free seminars, touring, podcasting, outdoor concerts, researching quantum nonlocal information, sewing, vegan cooking and baking, and singing.

Trick is not to do them all at once. I pace myself at around 5 a day.

QB