You’ve probably been called “a jack of all trades” or “multipassionate” more times than you can count. You’ve got sticky notes of ideas on your wall, 5 unfinished project pages, and a list of domains you bought for that next project idea. You start your mornings bursting with plans and end them wondering where the time went. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
While countless productivity techniques are floating around the internet, most of them convey the same message, and yet, for a multi-hyphenate like me, trying to follow them often leads to frustration. Instead of feeling inspired, I’d shut down just a few minutes into a task. The thought of completing one task in a single sitting made me want to crawl under my duvet, binge Asian dramas, and spiral into random YouTube rabbit holes.
That’s when I paused and started digging into why. Why wasn’t the traditional advice working? Why did I keep feeling behind, even when I was doing so much?
- Welcome to the life of a multi-passionate being, full of magic, but also full of chaos.
- The Mistake? You’re Trying to Be Consistent With Everything, All the Time
- Why This Hurts More Than You Think
- Productivity Isn’t About Doing More. It’s About Doing the Right Things at the Right Time.
- What Happens When You Get It Right
- You Are Not a Machine, You Are a Garden
- Let Chat
It hit me: everyone has 24 hours in a day. 1440 minutes, if you’re like me and track in minutes. While I was constantly complaining about a lack of time, others were building abundance mindsets, having the funds to delegate and leveraging strategic productivity habits to get more done. It wasn’t just about distraction; it was about ambition, money, structure, and how I treated my tasks.
Welcome to the life of a multi-passionate being, full of magic, but also full of chaos.
Hi, I’m Nafisa, the voice behind Novellisteer, a multipotentialite, introverted first daughter who’s spent years navigating the messy middle between creativity, ambition, and burnout. I currently work a full-time corporate job, run a freelance studio at night (Damiel Badra), nurture personal relationships, and pursue a graduate degree in cybersecurity, while still finding time to build creative and security-focused side projects that light me up.
That’s a lot of hats. And today, I want to talk about one of the biggest productivity mistakes we make as multi-passionate people, one that silently sabotages our energy, confidence, and growth.
The Mistake? You’re Trying to Be Consistent With Everything, All the Time
You’ve heard it before: “Consistency is key.”
But here’s the thing no one tells you, consistency looks different for a multi-passionate brain. When you try to be equally consistent across all your passions, you end up stretched thin, frustrated, and guilt-ridden for not doing enough.
I used to believe I had to show up everywhere, post weekly on my blog, create content for Novellisteer, brainstorm new product ideas, manage the podcast, draft YouTube scripts, update the shop’s backend, and still engage meaningfully in community spaces. All while keeping up with my day job, freelance clients at Damiel Badra, writing cybersecurity articles, staying active in class, and trying to be a good friend, daughter, and human being.
In trying to be consistent with everything, I ended up being consistent with nothing.
I was always “in motion” but rarely moving forward.
Why This Hurts More Than You Think
Let’s break it down:
- Energy Drain: Switching between passions (context switching) drains cognitive energy.
- Shallow Work: You’re always starting multiple, never finishing them all.
- Guilt Loop: You feel bad for not doing enough, so you try to do more, leading to burnout.
- Inconsistent Results: Because your energy is scattered, results take longer, and the feeling of failure creeps in.
You start to internalise the lie that you’re lazy, unproductive, or unserious. But you’re not. You just haven’t built a productivity system that honours your multipassionate nature.
Productivity Isn’t About Doing More. It’s About Doing the Right Things at the Right Time.
Instead of trying to be consistent in everything, I started being consistent in seasons.
This simple mindset shift changed my life. I began aligning my projects with the natural ebb and flow of my energy, interests, and responsibilities.
I call it Seasonal Focus, a permission slip to not do everything all at once, but to rotate focus in cycles.
Step One: Know Your Passion Buckets
First, map out your key passion areas. For me, it looked like this:
- Novellisteer Blog & Podcast
- Shop: Stationery & Tea
- YouTube (still a baby idea)
- Community & Events
- Cybersecurity projects & writing
- Client works via Damiel Badra
- Graduate programme responsibilities
Trying to juggle all of them equally every week was impossible. But organising them into “buckets” helped me see where my attention was most needed each season.
Your Turn: Make a list of your top 3–5 areas of interest or work. These are your passion buckets.
Step Two: Choose a Seasonal Theme (Focus ≠ Neglect)
Each quarter (or even month), I pick a primary focus and let the others simmer in the background. This doesn’t mean I abandon the rest; it just means I intentionally put more energy into one.
Example:
- Q1: Focus on building content for the blog and growing the email list.
- Q2: Focus on launching a new product line for the shop.
- Q3: Plan and host a community retreat.
- Q4: Focus on cybersecurity writing and finishing academic research.
This helps me stay grounded and prevents that frantic feeling of doing everything, everywhere, all at once.
Pro Tip: Keep a “Later List”, a safe space for parking ideas without pressure.
On The Blog: International Women’s Day: How You Can Start Doing Rather Than Just Talking
Step Three: Design Flexible Routines, Not Rigid Schedules
Let’s be honest, traditional productivity hacks like time blocking or the 5 AM club don’t work for everyone. Especially not for a brain that gets sparks of creativity at 2 AM and random ideas while doing the dishes.
Instead, create modular routines that can adapt to your energy levels.
My Weekly System:
- Thematic Days: Mondays = Admin, Tuesdays = Grad school, Wednesdays = Content, Thursdays = Client work, Fridays = Creative projects, Saturdays = Relationship & personal time.
- Deep Work Hours: 2–4 hours of deep work when my energy peaks.
- Creative Fridays: No client calls, just pure creative exploration.
You don’t need to work 10 hours a day to feel accomplished. You need to work intentionally.
Step Four: Measure Progress Differently
Multipassionate people often struggle to see results because their work doesn’t follow a linear path. Instead of waiting for a massive milestone, start celebrating momentum.
- Published a blog post? Celebrate.
- Wrote a messy outline? Celebrate.
- Decluttered your Notion dashboard? Celebrate.
Redefining productivity from “output” to “alignment” is how we win.
Step Five: Prioritise Rest (It’s Not a Reward. It’s a Requirement.)
I used to feel guilty for resting. I thought if I wasn’t creating, I was wasting time. But rest isn’t a break from productivity, it’s part of it.
As a first daughter with cultural and emotional responsibilities, rest often feels indulgent. But it’s your birthright.
- Create rest rituals:
- Digital detox weekends
- Afternoon naps
- Reading fiction without guilt
- Slow tea mornings
- Logging off after work and not opening 5 more tabs for new ideas
- Rest is the fuel that powers your brilliance.
What Happens When You Get It Right
When I started applying Seasonal Focus and redefining productivity for my multi-passionate nature, here’s what shifted:
- I completed more projects without rushing.
- I showed up with more clarity and joy.
- I stopped second-guessing my path.
- I became proud of my journey, not despite my many interests, but because of them.
You don’t need to fix your multi-passionate nature. You need to stop treating it like a flaw.
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You Are Not a Machine, You Are a Garden
It’s time to stop making that mistake. Just like plants don’t bloom all year, trees shed their leaves, and soil takes time to rest, we too are meant to move through seasons, not be in full productivity mode 365 days a year. You’re not behind, you’re not lazy, and you’re certainly not broken. You are a multi-passionate being with an entire ecosystem of ideas within you, and you deserve systems that honour your unique wiring rather than punish it. So permit yourself to be seasonal. Offer yourself grace to be incomplete. Allow yourself the space to bloom in your own time, in your way. With love and layered ambition.
Let Chat
- Which of your passion buckets has been asking for more of your attention lately?
- Are you currently in a season of building, resting, or dreaming?
- Where are you trying to be consistent with everything, and what might shift if you chose one thing to focus on this month?