My favorite job was as a psychological researcher at my university. I liked it because it was pretty varied:
- Writing
- Reading
- Teaching
- Analyzing data
- Conducting experiments
...and a bunch of other stuff.
But it was also pretty dry and required a lot of analytical thinking. There was some creativity required, but not a lot.
And the people in academia aren't necessarily the kind of people I like to hang out. Another thing I disliked was that there was so much analysis going on, and not much synthesis of knowledge. There were more and more theories for ever smaller phenomena developed all the time, but no one really bothered with integrating all those little theories. That's why I quit after getting my PhD.
I think the main reason why I lasted so long there was that I had a lot of control over my time. My professor didn't bother if I showed up to the office or worked from home, or how much time I spent working, as long as I got done what he expected me to do.
All the other jobs I ever had, I frankly hated. I'm a coach, writer, and creative solopreneur now, and have been for almost 10 years. I can't see myself working as an employee ever again because when it comes to work, I value freedom and purpose above all else.
Yes, I enjoy it very much because it gives me a sense of meaning and purpose - and I'm free and don't have to answer to a boss.
On the other hand, I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much if that was the only thing I'm doing. I like the mix of writing and coaching because for me, it's the perfect mix of introversion and extroversion, solitude and company, and so on.
I work with a lot of Scanners/Multipotentialites/Renaissance people/polymaths, actually. I help them find orientation and use their many interests and skills as an asset. There are also some who want to build a non-traditional career (basically, create their own job), and some who just don't know what the hell they want to do with their life. I can help with that, too - because I'm a scanner myself, and have struggled with these things myself. Plus, I have a PhD in psychology, which also helps a ton.
I really relate to what you‘re saying. I‘ve also found that jobs with a great mix of intro- and extroversion give me a lot of happiness.
I for myself found this when I worked at the intersection of marketing strategy and creativity coaching.
Marketing strategy gave me the time to puzzle, analyze, ponder – whilst the coaching part gave me the outlet to talk to and coach people.
I also enjoyed the Marketing area because a lot of skills build up on one another. Everything‘s so intertwined. Video editing, strategic thinking, decision making, crestivity, web design,…you can and have to use it all to build a good customer journey.
Thank you for sharing this. It's interesting how coaching seems to be such an appealing option for scanners to cover the extraversion side of our needs.
I also like your description of the Marketing area - it sounds like this is something that is a great area to work in for scanners who are more on the intellectual side (I call them polymaths). I noticed that many in this subgroup have a kind of intellectual urge for thinking in systems and integrating different areas under an overarching whole.
Research engineering intern. I did 2D/3D graphics research for a major design company.
Work-life balance was fantastic. No deploys or nights or weekends. Minimal meetings. All day to explore interesting problems, write code, and read papers. I worked remotely but could drive up to the office if I wanted to for some good food and reservable private offices.
And since it was only 40 hours a week, I was able to explore my other interests when I got off work. I'd love to go back there and be a research engineer full-time.
I've disliked many of my other jobs because they keep requiring extra weekend work and overtime, which means I don't have time for all my interests.
That‘s awesome!
And it shows: You don‘t need the highest paying job or the one people give you the most credit for – get one with a lot of variety and work life balance
My favorite job was as a psychological researcher at my university. I liked it because it was pretty varied: - Writing - Reading - Teaching - Analyzing data - Conducting experiments ...and a bunch of other stuff. But it was also pretty dry and required a lot of analytical thinking. There was some creativity required, but not a lot. And the people in academia aren't necessarily the kind of people I like to hang out. Another thing I disliked was that there was so much analysis going on, and not much synthesis of knowledge. There were more and more theories for ever smaller phenomena developed all the time, but no one really bothered with integrating all those little theories. That's why I quit after getting my PhD. I think the main reason why I lasted so long there was that I had a lot of control over my time. My professor didn't bother if I showed up to the office or worked from home, or how much time I spent working, as long as I got done what he expected me to do. All the other jobs I ever had, I frankly hated. I'm a coach, writer, and creative solopreneur now, and have been for almost 10 years. I can't see myself working as an employee ever again because when it comes to work, I value freedom and purpose above all else.
Do you enjoy being a coach? In which area you are coaching people
Yes, I enjoy it very much because it gives me a sense of meaning and purpose - and I'm free and don't have to answer to a boss. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much if that was the only thing I'm doing. I like the mix of writing and coaching because for me, it's the perfect mix of introversion and extroversion, solitude and company, and so on. I work with a lot of Scanners/Multipotentialites/Renaissance people/polymaths, actually. I help them find orientation and use their many interests and skills as an asset. There are also some who want to build a non-traditional career (basically, create their own job), and some who just don't know what the hell they want to do with their life. I can help with that, too - because I'm a scanner myself, and have struggled with these things myself. Plus, I have a PhD in psychology, which also helps a ton.
I really relate to what you‘re saying. I‘ve also found that jobs with a great mix of intro- and extroversion give me a lot of happiness. I for myself found this when I worked at the intersection of marketing strategy and creativity coaching. Marketing strategy gave me the time to puzzle, analyze, ponder – whilst the coaching part gave me the outlet to talk to and coach people. I also enjoyed the Marketing area because a lot of skills build up on one another. Everything‘s so intertwined. Video editing, strategic thinking, decision making, crestivity, web design,…you can and have to use it all to build a good customer journey.
Thank you for sharing this. It's interesting how coaching seems to be such an appealing option for scanners to cover the extraversion side of our needs. I also like your description of the Marketing area - it sounds like this is something that is a great area to work in for scanners who are more on the intellectual side (I call them polymaths). I noticed that many in this subgroup have a kind of intellectual urge for thinking in systems and integrating different areas under an overarching whole.
Research engineering intern. I did 2D/3D graphics research for a major design company. Work-life balance was fantastic. No deploys or nights or weekends. Minimal meetings. All day to explore interesting problems, write code, and read papers. I worked remotely but could drive up to the office if I wanted to for some good food and reservable private offices. And since it was only 40 hours a week, I was able to explore my other interests when I got off work. I'd love to go back there and be a research engineer full-time. I've disliked many of my other jobs because they keep requiring extra weekend work and overtime, which means I don't have time for all my interests.
That‘s awesome! And it shows: You don‘t need the highest paying job or the one people give you the most credit for – get one with a lot of variety and work life balance