One of the biggest reasons people suffer things like burn out is that they are far too busy and yet seem to achieve very little and this is often because they are trying to work on too many things at the same time. So, how many projects can you effectively work on at the same time? Various pieces of scientific research say (with some caveats) that the optimal number is between two and three.
The truth is of course you can only effectively work on one project at a time but you can handle multiple projects by employing the techniques below:
- No multi-tasking. We know that true multi-tasking is not even possible let alone desirable Why Multitasking Is Not Effective and so work on one thing at a time and exclude everything else whilst you are working on your chosen task. Strictly speaking therefore, the effective number of projects you can work on at the same time is one!!
- By all means have more than three projects that need completing but prioritise one and have no more than two or three others that are active. Work on the others when you have time available and cannot work on the critical ones (whist you are waiting for information or parts and cannot move forward for example).
- Split projects into their component jobs and delegate the ones that can be given to other people.
- Set realistic deadlines and use time management techniques to ensure you are not blown off course. Six Ways To Effectively Free Up Time
- Stop regularly and ensure that you are always working on the number one priority project. If not, why not? Then get back on course.
- If you get behind on your priority project then decide what you are going to drop elsewhere to enable you to get back on track. Don’t try to do everything. It doesn’t work. Trust me, I’ve tried it.
As you can see, there is a big difference between working on a project and managing a project. You can manage far more projects than you can work on.
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