Comments on: Find the Best Number of Projects to Work on Simultaneously http://www.devyou.com/career/find-the-best-number-of-projects-to-work-on-simultaneously Develop a Better You! Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:33:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Paul Plamondon http://www.devyou.com/career/find-the-best-number-of-projects-to-work-on-simultaneously#comment-69 Paul Plamondon Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:22:26 +0000 http://www.devyou.com/productivity/find-the-best-number-of-projects-to-work-on-simultaneously#comment-69 I love the topic. I can relate. I'm an "instructional design" consultant, which means that I design and develop workshops, training programs, presentations, e-learning courses, or any other service or product that involves teaching information or skills. One design project is usually not enough for me but the five projects (and five clients) I have currently is a bit too much. The number of projects I can handle or tolerate, however, depends on the scope of the projects, whether or not I am already familiar with the content, and how involved I am in the hands-on work of the project. Two other factors that influence my "energy" to work on a project is how passionate I am about the topic (the more passionate, the more energy I have to work on it) and the nature of my relationship with the client (does the client actively and positively contribute to what I design or does the client like to tear it apart?). I'm painting a picture of extremes here, but only for the sake of brevity. One way to handle MORE projects (and generate more income) is to outsource or sub-contract one or more of them. This is a great way to make semi-passive income, grow your business, and influence a lot of clients. Another way to handle multiple projects is to change the way you think about your projects. That is, do YOU have to do all of the hands-on work? Can the client do some of it or most of it and still get great results? Teach your clients how to do the work and charge a fee for teaching and supporting them. This may work for many of them. I love the topic. I can relate. I’m an “instructional design” consultant, which means that I design and develop workshops, training programs, presentations, e-learning courses, or any other service or product that involves teaching information or skills.

One design project is usually not enough for me but the five projects (and five clients) I have currently is a bit too much. The number of projects I can handle or tolerate, however, depends on the scope of the projects, whether or not I am already familiar with the content, and how involved I am in the hands-on work of the project. Two other factors that influence my “energy” to work on a project is how passionate I am about the topic (the more passionate, the more energy I have to work on it) and the nature of my relationship with the client (does the client actively and positively contribute to what I design or does the client like to tear it apart?). I’m painting a picture of extremes here, but only for the sake of brevity.

One way to handle MORE projects (and generate more income) is to outsource or sub-contract one or more of them. This is a great way to make semi-passive income, grow your business, and influence a lot of clients. Another way to handle multiple projects is to change the way you think about your projects. That is, do YOU have to do all of the hands-on work? Can the client do some of it or most of it and still get great results? Teach your clients how to do the work and charge a fee for teaching and supporting them. This may work for many of them.

]]> By: Brian Tanaka http://www.devyou.com/career/find-the-best-number-of-projects-to-work-on-simultaneously#comment-68 Brian Tanaka Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:53:54 +0000 http://www.devyou.com/productivity/find-the-best-number-of-projects-to-work-on-simultaneously#comment-68 Ah, thanks for the comment. Actually though, Leo isn't recommending multi-tasking in the article I linked to. He's talking about how many projects you have on your project list, switching from one to the other -- not working on tasks related to them simultaneously. So we're all in agreement. Multi-tasking is best avoided. Ah, thanks for the comment. Actually though, Leo isn’t recommending multi-tasking in the article I linked to. He’s talking about how many projects you have on your project list, switching from one to the other — not working on tasks related to them simultaneously. So we’re all in agreement. Multi-tasking is best avoided.

]]> By: RisingSunn http://www.devyou.com/career/find-the-best-number-of-projects-to-work-on-simultaneously#comment-67 RisingSunn Fri, 02 Nov 2007 23:48:09 +0000 http://www.devyou.com/productivity/find-the-best-number-of-projects-to-work-on-simultaneously#comment-67 "First, a few quick reasons not to multi-task: Multi-tasking is less efficient, due to the need to switch gears for each new task, and the switch back again. Multi-tasking is more complicated, and thus more prone to stress and errors. Multi-tasking can be crazy, and in this already chaotic world, we need to reign in the terror and find a little oasis of sanity and calm. " From Zenhabits.net http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/how-not-to-multitask-work-simpler-and/ “First, a few quick reasons not to multi-task:

Multi-tasking is less efficient, due to the need to switch gears for each new task, and the switch back again.
Multi-tasking is more complicated, and thus more prone to stress and errors.
Multi-tasking can be crazy, and in this already chaotic world, we need to reign in the terror and find a little oasis of sanity and calm. ”

From Zenhabits.net

http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/how-not-to-multitask-work-simpler-and/

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