How to Fix 4 Downsides to a Scanner Personality

Hi, my name is Katherine, and I have a scanner personality. I discovered this in the summer of 2020, when I read Barbara Sher’s book, Refuse to Choose!. Simply being aware of this facet of my personality has shifted my mindset when it comes to my hobbies and life goals. But between you and me: there are a lot of downsides to having a scanner personality.

What is a Scanner and are there Benefits?

But I’m naturally an optimist, so let’s talk a little bit about the upsides. People with a scanner personality have a wide range of interests and an equal amount of enthusiasm for all of them. They aren’t content to learn everything about one subject – they want to learn everything about every subject!

A scanner tends to be more creative than non-scanners. Their lateral thinking skills are fueled by having picked up information on a wide variety of subjects. They’re fast learners, due in part to their deep well of enthusiasm about whatever they’re picking up for the first time.

What are the Downsides to Having a Scanner Personality?

Unfortunately, we live in a society that values specialization. This has only intensified since the mid-20^th century, when rapid industrialization and globalization following WWII consolidated industries and obliterated self-sufficient communities. Gone are the days of Leonardo Da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin, when dabbling in a number of pursuits made for a full and fulfilling life.

(Arguably, the popularity of Elon Musk types signal a return to that sort of personality, but our hyper-capitalist society shifts the aim from curiosity to ROI…but I digress.)

Anyway. There are downsides to having a scanner personality in this day and age. But fear not! They won’t damn you to a miserable life.

Downside: Too Many Focuses

This is the one that I suffer from the most. I want to learn about everything and I want to do it right now. When I try and keep myself to one focus, knowing that it’s the most efficient way to get all my projects done, I feel like I’m neglecting my other hobbies. When I pivot and try and do a little bit of everything, I end up making no tangible progress on any one thing. What’s a scanner to do?

Solution: Find Your Variety Sweet Spot

The best way to thwart your scattered enthusiasm is to find the best number of goals to have at once. It will take some finagling, but take a month to experiment with this. Try working on three projects for the next week. At the end of the week, evaluate how you felt about your focus. Did you find yourself longing to pick up a fourth project? Do you regret not getting much done on those three? Adjust up and down until you find your Goldilocks spot.

I do best with three: one to work on, one to look forward to, and one to procrastinate!

Downside: Time Panic

This downside of a scanner personality goes hand-in-hand with the previous one. When I try and focus on one or two projects at a time, I get panicked that I’ll never get through everything that I want in my life. I’m already 30! I don’t have much time left!

Solution: Map Out Your Life

This was my favorite exercise from Refuse to Choose!. I’d recommend grabbing a copy of the book to get all the details for this particular exercise, but here’s a shortened bootleg version. Make a timeline of your life to date. Fill in all the major events that have happened until now. Now, extend that timeline out until you’re 90 years old. Fill in all the projects, research, degrees, and jobs that you’ll pursue between now and when you are too old to care anymore.

I’ve always been under the impression that I’d never have enough time to do everything that I want. But when I did this activity, I found myself running out of things to do around 65! I felt a weight come off my shoulders knowing that life is long, and as long as I’m working on what I deem important at the time, I’ll never run out of time.

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Downside: Constant Prioritization

Speaking of what I deem important, the next downside to a scanner personality is prioritizing. If you are excited about everything, how do you decide what to work on? And once you decide to work on something, how do you know when to shift focus?

Solution: Consistent Prioritization

The best solution I can come up with for this project is to build yourself a routine. And don’t worry – this routine won’t take much time away from your projects! Personally, I run a personal scrum for myself, to capture all my project ideas and ensure that I’m working on what’s important to me. Other scanners find it useful to keep a scanner daybook to record and expand on all their ideas, pulling projects from it when they have time.

There are two important aspects to this solution: commit to your priorities for a period of time. If you find yourself getting distracted, remind yourself that you’re giving this a try. Then, know when you’re reevaluating. Having a date when you’ll reprioritize will quiet that voice in your head that’s yelling, “YOU’RE WORKING ON THE WRONG THING!”

Downside: Quitters Guilt

This one is a KILLER for me. Many scanners feel pressure to finish whatever project they start. I know that I’m worried that the supplies are wasted if I don’t finish whatever it was that I wanted to try out. But this is just scanners being stubborn. Stopping a hobby because you’re no longer interested in it is smart! Why would you spend more of your free time doing something you don’t want to do?

Solution: Redefine “Completion”

Sher has a great analogy in her book about bees collecting nectar for honey. Bees don’t force themselves to drain every flower dry. They take what they need from a flower and move on. It’s natural and unforced. She encourages scanners to do the same thing with projects.

If you’re struggling to quit a project, take a moment and think about what excited you about it in the first place. Did you get what you wanted out of it? Great. You’ve completed what you set out to do. Don’t worry about whatever finished project you intended to complete. Live out your enthusiasm, then move on.

As for the materials, you can either save it for some time in the future when inspiration strikes again or donate the materials to someone who might find more enjoyment in them.

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If I’ve learned anything about myself in the past couple of years, it’s that I am excellent at finding ways to feel guilty about how I spend my time. Hopefully, these solutions to downsides to having a scanner personality will help you the same way they’ve helped me!