A little variety is a wonderful thing to have in your life, but can it actually hinder your career pursuits? Many argue that no one wants a jack of all trades, rather a master of one thing. But, what if you could be a professional in many things? In this article, we will look at a few ways you can start practicing to become a professional in many things so that you can avoid simply being a jack of all trades.
Broaden your brand
The problem that many of us face is a feeling that we are only good at one thing. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Our professional skill sets equip us with the ability to master several areas revolving around our expertise. For example, a writer is not only a writer. A writer can manage social media pages, create content, write novels, produce short scripts, and a number of other things requiring a basic understanding of writing. As a writer, this person could pursue many areas simultaneously and develop a brand that reflects this culmination of professions. Once you have determined your collective areas of expertise, you can start amending your social pages and CVs to incorporate a holistic image of your offerings, broadening your brand in the process.
Compartmentalize your time
One of the hardest tricks but ones that can make such a significant impact if done correctly is compartmentalizing your time. This is especially beneficial if you work from home, as a nine to five job may not allow for much freedom in this area. You should try your best to split your day into time chunks. These time chunks should not be long and the 20-minute Pomodoro technique is a wonderful place to start. According to these time chunks, you can zone off your day into allocated periods of work on a particular thing. In doing so, you will master the art of time management and be able to directly see where all of your efforts and energy are being poured into.
Make the time
Once you have compartmentalized your time, it’s now up to you to make the time. Practice makes perfect, so be sure to allocate a portion of your day honing in on your skills and developing the necessary abilities to get each of your jobs done properly. Practice time is the most essential part of the process as you need to learn to improve, allowing you to get more professional tasks completed in a quicker amount of time, positively impacting your productivity as a result.
Use as many tools as possible
For just about anything, whether it be practicing or creating, there is a tool to aid you. Whether it be scheduling social media posts through Hootsuite or designing artwork on Canva, you can become a professional at every task if you utilize the resources that make the job easier. By finding ways to make each task easier, you will start winning back your time and have more of it to focus on the areas you find more difficult. Being a professional in many things means sucking it up and accepting the help when you need it, using tools to your advantage and gaining a leg up on your competition.
These are just a few ways you can start becoming a professional at many things instead of being a jack of all trades. Such a pursuit will make you more hireable in the process!
