

How do you generalists out there divide your time? - wunderlust

Although there&#x27;s a lot to be said for specialization - of skills, careers, and interests - the historical figures I&#x27;ve always found most inspiring were generalists (polymaths, at the extreme). There&#x27;s some debate around the topic, but I, and probably others, would love to hear from people who manage several different interests.<p>I&#x27;m not a real hacker, or programmer, or anything really, yet. But I&#x27;ve always thought of myself as more of a generalist than a specialist. Maybe that&#x27;s why I&#x27;m not (or don&#x27;t feel like) a &quot;real&quot; anything so far.<p>If anyone has any concrete experiences to share on this, I&#x27;m sure it&#x27;d be greatly appreciated. (E.g., to-do lists, schedules, mind maps, other organizational tools, etc.; but also ways of thinking and organizing your thoughts)
======
iamwithnail
I use a variety of things to GSD.

[http://www.workflowy.com](http://www.workflowy.com) for high level stuff /
to-dos. [http://www.basecamp.com](http://www.basecamp.com) for actual projects
- always. [http://www.evernote.com](http://www.evernote.com) for note taking -
often I'll paste links to the Notes into workflowy. I tend to use separate
mailboxes and calendars for different things (so
[http://www.gmbl.io](http://www.gmbl.io),
[http://www.granttree.co.uk](http://www.granttree.co.uk) and my PhD all have
separate things), but it's amalgamated together in Google Calendar so I can
turn them on and off depending on what I'm doing.

I also use HipChat for group chat (two versions, one in the client for work,
one in the browser for personal projects.)

------
gk1
I've found that I'm more productive when I focus on one thing per day, instead
of trying to focus on multiple things at once. One day I'll do consulting
work[0], another day I'll learn something new, the next I'll work on side
projects[1], etc.

It helps to have task lists[2] and calendars for all your projects. This way
you won't feel pressure to remember everything at once. If everything is
documented and scheduled, you can focus on one thing and put everything else
aside (temporarily).

[0] [http://www.gkogan.co](http://www.gkogan.co)

[1] [http://www.gagcartoons.com](http://www.gagcartoons.com)

[2] I really like Subtask for task tracking
([http://www.subtask.com](http://www.subtask.com)), though I rarely see them
mentioned here.

------
phantom_oracle
By generalist, do you mean somebody who has interests beyond a computer as
well? For example, maybe you like doing carpentry work too, or you paint or
play musical instruments?

I'm beginning to think that a generalist is an ideal entrepreneur. Somebody
that can pick things up quickly but pick up "just enough" to make use of the
skill without turning into a master.

Prioritizing is probably a good way to get things done. However, I am still
trying to figure it out myself as well.

