Are you a scanner? And how to cope if you are.

Here’s a post originally published in 2014 but I think that some people may find it a help…

So here’s a question for you, have you heard of the term “scanner” when it comes to describing someone’s personality?

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No? But I’m sure that you’ve heard the variants such as multi-passionate and multi-potential which have become somewhat buzz words of late.

But the term scanner was coined by Barbara Sher who describes this personality type as:

“People who love to read and write, to fix and invent things, to design projects and businesses, to cook and sing, and to create the perfect dinner party. (You’ll notice I didn’t use the word “or,” because Scanners don’t love to do one thing or the other; they love them all.)” 

Well, this is me down to a tee. I’m constantly digging, scheming and dreaming. I’ve known about this term for quite a while and you know what? I’ve learned to embraced it.

And I’m not alone!

I’ve had quite a few careers jobs in my young(isn) life (call centre agent, sales, talent agent, event planner, public relations, small business owner, journalist etc) AND alongside a vast range of interests and willingness to try new things has meant that I’ve often been branded unfocussed and scatty…

But as the New York based author says: “A scanner is GENETICALLY wired to be fanatically interested in multiple things at once.”

You hear that? It’s genetically wired.

But scanners have a major problem. We become bored and go off on tangents and we think it’s bad that we keep quitting things and moving on. Something which Sher thinks we should stop feeling bad about and instead start having fun with. We also tend to doubt ourselves because we fail to decide on just one career path which then leads to worrying that we could be getting it wrong which then leads to the frantic need to focus.

But before you start thinking that procrastination habit is OK, not everyone is a scanner. There are people who jump from idea to idea that do so because they actually can’t make up their mind about what they want to do or have other reasons for doing so. Continue reading “Are you a scanner? And how to cope if you are.”