Divide and Conquer
My life seems to be pretty crazy. I am constantly talking about a new project here or a new idea that'll "change the world" or a book concept or whatever. Problem is, I am constantly writing out these ideas and spawning off other ideas from those ideas.
So the question is, how do you manage multiple projects with limited time available each day without putting one project to the side and never returning to it?
In comes GTD or Getting Things Done. Not necessarily a new concept but one that has been getting a lot of attention lately, as many people, like myself, seem to be getting overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to complete their tasks.
A simple search on Google reveals hundreds of GTD software, books and blogs. Google Search on Getting Things Done. While most of them are great sources of inspiration and a great guide on how to manage your projects, I find most of them trying to be more than is necessary and sometimes quite a bit overwhelming at times for what I need.
I have come up with a simpler way that I think will work well for me, Divide and Conquer. The main principles are this:
1. List out all projects: I put all my projects into a list. I wrote them all out on paper, in my dedicated project notebook, as well as, put them out on a very simple GTD online application called TadaList from 37 Signals(more on this later).
2. Prioritize the projects: When I wrote them out in notebook I put a priority (in order of importance) number beside each project. For example, getting one of my business concepts, business plan going is a huge priority for me, so I put a number 1 next to it.
3. Assign a day to it: Put a day of the week next to each project and priority. Leave one day free, for example Sunday. Sunday, for me is reserved for things like, bbq, homework (ie: household chore list), and/or football. Whatever "free" day of the week you chose, it should be a day when you don't have to think about any project at all and can just relax and go brain dead if possible.
3a. Assignment rules for project days: Assigning the project to a day is simple. On that day of the week I am allowed to work on that project and that project ALONE! No other projects will come into play or get worked on while I am working on that particular project. I am allowed to essentially "forget", the other projects and just focus on one. If my mind does wander, then I put the thought down in TadaList or in my project notebook and get right back to the project at hand.
4. Test-drive the week with the assignments: It was necessary to "test-drive" the project week layout for a week first. Some re-ordering was necessary as I was spending more time on one project on a given day and not enough on another on a different day. So I re-ordered my list around till each project felt right for each given day and time. On some recurring days of the week I just don't have enough time to work on some projects, so I give those days to the lower priority projects.
After the project was written out on the good day I had assigned to it, I added the project to it's own dedicated set of pages in the project notebook (about 5-10 pages). Then I listed out as much as I could think at the time, about that project and the direction I wanted to take. Since I was only focusing on one particular project that day, I was able to brainstorm on as much as possible just for that project.
4a. Detail out the Project list on TadaList: TadaList is a great online tool. It's extremely simple, fast, FREE, and works with most, if not all, mobile devices with an internet connection. You simply put in a project header and then add things to the project. So as I am going through my test-drive week, as I think of items I just jump online (or on my cellphone if I am out) and add an item to the project list, or I would pull them from the notebook and add them to project header. Oh yea, its FREE, did I mention that? It can be used for other things outside of the projects that I have scheduled. For example, I have a list for each room in my house that needs work done. Like painting or cleaning a closet or putting up shelfs or pull bushes outside or whatever.
4b. Remind yourself everyday: I signed up for a service from PingMe which sends you a text message to your phone whenever you schedule one, it's just another good simple GTD application that sends reminders that you setup for a given time and day, to your phone. For example, I scheduled one for each of my projects and then I have it send me a message (a few times a day sometimes) to remind me to work on that project. Sometimes I just have it send a message with the project info and a specific task that I need to work on for that project, even further focusing my thoughts on it. And best of all, its free right now while it is in Beta test. Again, this could be used for a host of other things outside of the projects that I am working on.
5. Come out the gate running: Once I had worked out the details and test-drove the projects for a trial week, it was time to hit it and hit it hard. All my focus was on the project that I had designated for that day, in my case I started on Monday. This was of course, after I had already done my "real" paying job, each and every work day.
I'll update here as I get through a few more weeks like this.
