2021 has been an exciting year, especially since the easing of the pandemic and the return of jobs and the expansion of new ones. However, there has been a long list of life lessons that I have learnt during this time which I would like to share as a way of reflecting at the end of this phenomenal year. In this post, I talk about my 2021 and how I have learnt four new personal and professional lessons.
Being selective
This is important as I believe that being selective allows you to prioritise different tasks and activities from a personal and professional standpoint. It also allows you to filter through potentially toxic experiences for the future and enable you to take more control of situations which matter the most to you. Being selective also allows you to get closer to the lifestyle you would like to have and the people that you would like to be around. This is helpful as this can help you prioritise your personal and professional time as well as allows you to save time from potentially negative situations
Refined collaboration
Collaboration is another skill that I have learnt during this year and how to negotiate with other team members. Collaboration doesn’t just mean working in a team solely for the sake of it. It also means that you provide a forum to exchange new ideas and discuss task-oriented solutions. Collaboration also means that you support your colleagues and other team members when the situation gets tough or a common struggle is shared between team members.
Breaking down tasks
In 2020 like most people, I was trapped in a rut about where I want to go career-wise or what I want to do to bring me closer to my personal goals. The big question was how to proceed. I found that breaking down tasks was an effective way to ensure that I was getting my tasks on time and avoiding the loop of procrastination in most scenarios. If there is a task I’m struggling with, it also allows me time to ask for help and recalibrate my way of thinking to focus on the more manageable tasks while learning the difficult ones at a separate time. This is one area that I am still working on even into 2022.
Multitasking is a myth.
This is pretty a big realisation that I’ve realised throughout this year. Multitasking is more of a myth where essentially you are just changing tasks from one to another, but you’re not doing two or three tasks simultaneously. Multitasking is unproductive as you produce a lower quality of work and your concentration is also diminished. My end goal for 2021, which I plan to continue into 2022, is to reduce the multitasking compulsion and focus on completing one task before moving on to the next. It is crucial to prioritise different tasks to ensure that your focus is on the most urgent task first and then move on to other less urgent tasks.