Being the Only Data Person: The Challenge Isn’t Always the Data
Being the only data person in a company can be an interesting experience.
You get to work on different problems, explore different areas, and learn things you might not have expected. You also get to see how different parts of a business operate and how data can support their decisions.
But there is another side to it.
When Everyone Has Different Priorities
As the only person working with data, I interact with stakeholders from different parts of the business.
The CEO looks at things from a business perspective. The product manager has product-related questions. Developers need technical insights. Marketing has its own needs, including campaign analysis.
Each perspective is valid. Each team has its own goals, challenges, and questions that need answers.
The challenge is that these needs don’t always arrive one at a time.
Sometime, I have to move from thinking about a business question to investigating a technical issue, then switching to a product-related request or an analysis for a marketing campaign.
Before I can fully immerse myself in one problem, another one might already need my attention.
This is where context-switching becomes a big part of the job.
And honestly, it can be exhausting.
The work itself is often something I enjoy. I like exploring problems, working with data, and figuring things out. But constantly switching between different contexts require more than just technical skills. It also takes time and mental energy to understand each problem, remember its context, and determine what needs to happen next.
When Everything Feels Important
One of the hardest parts is figuring out what should come first.
From each stakeholder’s perspective, their request usually has a reason behind it. A business question might affect a decision. A product request might help the team understand user behavior. A technical investigation might be necessary to ensure data is reliable. A marketing analysis might help evaluate a campaign.
When viewed individually, all of these needs can make sense.
But when they compete for the same limited time, things get more complicated.
I’ve experienced this quite often. There are moments when several priorities seem equally important, and I feel the presure to make progress on all of them.
That’s when I can start feeling overwhelmed.
I know that I can’t realistically give every task my full attention at the same time. Yet knowing that intellectually doesn’t always make the pressure disappear.
Get Rio Rizki Aryanto’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Sometimes, I catch myself thingking about everything that still needs to be done rather than focusing on the task in front of me.
And when that happens, even work that I genuinely enjoy can start to feel heavy.
I think there is something very human about this experience. We can care about our work, enjoy solving problems, and want to do a good job while still feeling overwhelmed by everything happening around us.
Enjoying your work doesn’t automatically make every phase of it easy.
Learning to Communicate Instead of Carrying Everything Alone
When things start to feel like too much, I’ve learned that I need to be honest about it.
I talk to my supervisor and the stakeholders involved. I explain the situation and clarity priorities so we can establish a better understanding of what needs attention first.
It doesn’t mean every task suddenly disappear or every competing priority is easy to resolve.
But it creates an opportunity to discuss the situation rather than silently trying to accomodate everything.
I think this is an important part of working with different stakeholders. Communication isn’t only about reporting progress or explaining results. Sometimes, it’s about making sure everyone understands the constraints and agrees on what matters most.
As a data professional, it’s easy to focus on the technical side of the job; writing queries, building pipelines, validating data, or preparing analyses. But working across a business also means navigating expectations, communication limitations, and helping people understand what can reallistically be done.
I’m still learning how to do this better.
And I’m learning that being responsible for the work doesn’t mean I have to pretend that I have unlimited capacity.
Being Capable Doesn’t Mean Doing Everything at Once
I enjoy being able to work across different areas of data. The variety is one of the things that makes the job interesting.
But I’ve also been reminded that having the skills to do something doesn’t means I have the time or capacity to do everything at once.
There will be competing priorities. There will be days when switching between tasks feels harder than the tasks themselves. And there will be moments when I need to step back, communicate openly, and reconsider where my attention should go.
I’m not writing this because I’ve figured everything out. I’m still navigating these situations and learning what works for me.
For now, I’m trying to remind myself that doing good works isn’t simply about how much I can take on. It’s also about understanding priorities, communicating honestly, and recognizing my own limits.
Sometimes, the next step isn’t to work harder or move faster.
Sometimes, it’s to pause, have a conversation, and figure out what matters most.
And on some days, it’s simply about accepting that feeling overwhelmed doesn’t mean I’m doing a bad job. It means I’m human.
One priority at a time.
