When you oversee 4 projects and read 6 chats, while still being aware of what’s going on

7–9
Wide-angle mode

You would usually see the big picture, and only then see where to delve into.

For example. you:

• can quickly scan a lot of new information;
• keep several current things to do in your head;
• first set a general plan and go into details later.

How it looks in your work:

• A project manager supervises several projects at a time: checks the deadlines, answers to the teams, and quickly understands where his help is most needed right now.
• A marketing manager scans the results of several advertising campaigns and notices where the indicators changed the most. They would first spot the main thing and then look more thoroughly into numbers.
• An event producer oversees the venue, program, participants, and contractors. If anything goes sideways, they quickly shift the focus to the problem since the stage is not waiting for anyone.

Do you recognize yourself? Now let’s see which tasks you actually enjoy.

9.1–9.6
Fast-switch mode

You easily adjust your focus for the changes happening around.

For example, you can be comfortable to:

• switch between several relatively minor tasks;
• quickly establish what is more important right now;
• make the whole picture from a vast amount of information.

If the pace is fast, you’re more likely to make a decision and go further than to study a small detail. Sometimes you have to recheck the little things additionally, but the ASAP out of the blue in the work chat can hardly ruin your day.

How it looks in your work:

• A project manager discusses the template with the designer in the morning, half an hour later clarifies the task with the developer, and then reworks the big plan because the deadline has changed.
• An SMM specialist oversees the content, comments, news, and statistics. If a news-worthy material comes up, they decide if publications plan for today should change.
• A support specialist works with several requests at a time, and sees where a short answer is needed, and where the problem is big enough to go to the tech team.

Do you recognize yourself? Now let’s see which tasks you actually enjoy.

Me working on a task for 2 hours normally
Me when the chat says ASAP

9.7–10.3
Flexible-focus mode

You can balance between diving in a task and switching to the new ones.

It is the situation when you:

• peacefully work on a single task;
• turn to an urgent issue if needed;
• after finishing with it, go back to where you stopped.

An urgent message and grab your attention for a bit, but it wouldn’t necessarily toss all your previous hour of work out of the window.


How it looks in your work:

• A product manager is thinking through product development for hours, and then goes to a users’ problem that needs to be dealt with today, and afterwards goes back to strategy.
• A team lead plans workload for a month, conducts one-on-ones, and answers to the team questions, and joins when the unexpected problem comes up.
• A UX researcher delves into users’ interviews and then goes to discuss the results with designers and the product team.

Do you recognize yourself? Now let’s see which tasks you actually enjoy.

Coworker: “Erh, just have quick a look”
Me, 3 hours later.

10.4–10.9
Deep-dive mode

You prefer to first very thoroughly understand the issue and then move to the next one.

For example, you might like:

• taking your time to comprehensively learn a hard topic;
• test the solution before consider the task complete;
• break a big project into bite-size chunks and deal with them gradually.

If the task is interesting, for you it is a direct call to open 12 more tabs for one answer and eventually do a research.

How it looks in your work:

• a developer designs service architecture: makes out how the elements of the system will be connected, thinks through possible errors, and only then starts making a solution.
• a financial analyst creates a business model : checks initial data, analyzes several scenarios, and sees how changing in one indicator can reflect on the rest of the system.
• a designer develops the project's visual model: studies the task, gathers references, finds a conception, and consistently takes it from first drafts to a ready solution.

Do you recognize yourself? Now let’s see which tasks you actually enjoy.

When they asked me to have a look at a task NOW

11–13
Step-by-step-focus mode

Your main strength is to delve into one task.

It is the situation when you:

• can get interested in one topic for a while;
• notice the details that are only visible after a deep dive;
• prefer to finish one important stage before going to the next one.

If the work has captured you, the notifications can wait a bit.

How it looks in your work:

• a researcher studies one topic for weeks: collects materials, conducts experiments, compares results, gradually putting it together in conclusions or a scientific paper.
• an analyst works with big data: checks the information quality, looks for trends, and makes a comprehensive report where each conclusion is backed by numbers.
• a developer works on a complex algorithm or a large part of a system where it’s crucial to check many conditions in a sequence, while keeping the details.
• an Illustration artist can take their time to work on a series or a picture: from first sketches to tiny details that the audience will only see if they pay a lot of attention.

Do you recognize yourself? Now let’s see which tasks you actually enjoy.