5 Tips to Juggle Multiple Projects (gracefully)
It’s a quarter past 7pm when I looked down on my watch. I have been working since 8am but I still have more than ten items on the to-do list that I wish to complete by end of the day. I can hear my stomach’s loud complaints even though I’m wearing headphones because I had to skip lunch for a meeting. My eyes start to hurt because I have been staring at my screen for more than 9 hours.
Does this sound familiar? Welcome to my life three years ago. I was not able to handle multiple projects and felt like a total failure. Fortunately, I became better at juggling several projects by experimenting with various ways of handling them.
So, here are five tips I found most useful:
Tip #1: Take notes during conversations.
Taking notes during conversations frees up your brain from memorizing every single detail said so it can focus on the most important tasks. I used to rely on my brain and learned not to do that the hard way - I forgot important details requested by customers and had to redo my design over a weekend.
Now wherever I go, I carry a notebook with me just in case anything important comes up. If you don’t have the habit of carrying a notebook, you can still use your phone to note down important details so you’re not relying solely on your brain. Trust me, this small habit goes a long way.
Tip #2: It is okay to say “no” to things.
I found this as one of the hardest for me. Not only because I want to be helpful to other people but also because I don’t want to let others down. However, what could be more disappointing when you promise to help with something but are then unable to fulfill that promise?
It is important to know that saying no doesn’t mean that you are unwilling to help others. It means that you respect the commitments that you’ve already made and don’t overwhelm yourself with every request that comes your way.
To turn down a request in a respectful way, you can start by saying something like “Thank you for thinking of me. But I have already committed to XX this week. Would you be willing to wait till next week?” or “Thank you for asking, but I am not available till next month. Will you ask me again then?” I found it useful when you give the other person a time for when you might be able to help to set the expectation right.
But what if the person tells you that her request is urgent and cannot wait? You can politely ask her to talk to your manager and let your manager decide if you should reprioritize things on your plate. By doing this, you are able to maintain a transparent relationship with the person who requested help, while keeping your manager informed about the potential shifts on the stuff that you will be working on.
The bottom line is, you don’t want to be someone that overpromises but under-delivers. So saying no respectfully to things that come after you’ve already gotten a full plate is a responsible manner of handling them.
Tip #3: Prioritize how you spend your time.
Throughout your career, you would learn that everything you do has an opportunity cost. In another word, if you choose to do A at a given time, that means you are not able to do B at the same time. For example, if you choose to attend a customer usability test, you would miss the design alignment meeting that’s happening at the same time. (Even though some software like zoom lets you attend multiple meetings at once, you would not be able to focus 100% on either session).
Therefore, I have learned that prioritizing how I spent my time is a must-have skill if I want to be able to handle multiple projects without dropping any balls. One of the solutions I found particularly useful is to color-code my calendar. It’s simple enough, just like what you would do back in school with affinity diagram, now you color-code meetings/tasks based on their priorities and importance. When you look at your weekly view, you can easily see how many high-priority conversations will be happening. When you pair this technique with tip #2, you can quickly tell when you will be able to help others with their requests just by looking for a week that has fewer red/orange boxes on your calendar.
Tip #4: It’s all relevant, even if it’s not obvious now.
Have you ever sat in a meeting/conversation and felt like the topic is completely irrelevant? Trust me, I feel you. I used to just let myself zone out and nod mindlessly without paying attention when I found myself in those situations - until I realized that almost everything is relevant.
You are invited to the meeting/conversation for a reason. Oftentimes, I found what I heard in a random conversation helpful and was able to start connecting the dots when I start to really listen to those “irrelevant” conversations.
A good tip for keeping yourself focused on conversations you are less interested in is to repeat what other people said back in your head. When you repeat, your brain automatically starts to process that piece of information so you will be able to pick up valuable chunks and begin to make sense of them.
With multiple projects on your plate, there must be a good amount of overlaps of information shared or conversation exchanged in your daily life. To make the most use of your time, start paying attention to those conversations that you previously were not interested in and you might find it helpful because they are actually all “relevant”.
Tip #5: Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
While it is easy to talk about, it’s actually very hard for most of us to take the leap of faith and ask a question, especially in meetings where there are many people that you’re not familiar with. To make matters worse, I often found myself thinking: shouldn’t I know this already?
If you find yourself in the same situation, you’re not alone. It could be intimidating to see everyone in the meeting is comfortable with what’s being discussed. However, if you feel confused or have any doubt about the subject matter, chances are someone else in the room is feeling the same way. By asking the question you have in mind, you will not only be helping yourself out but also be helping those around you and encouraging them to do the same.
More importantly, by asking the question you have in mind, you save yourself from the guesswork that will go on even after you leave the conversation - you might even end up spending more time trying to find the answer yourself. To be able to take care of multiple projects, you need to be cognizant of how you spend your time. You should always be looking for the most effective ways to answer your questions. What could be more efficient than getting your questions answered in the meeting while everyone is discussing that particular subject matter?
When you find yourself hesitant of asking a question, ask yourself: who in the room is going to benefit from me not asking the question? The answer should be clear enough — no one will benefit from you withholding your question, including yourself. More often than not, questions spark discussions. Maybe what you asked will trigger a new idea or raise another question that the group hadn’t thought about.
There was a saying that goes “Whoever asks the question remains a fool for 5 minutes. Whoever does not ask, remain a fool forever.” While the first half of this saying is debatable, the second part of it is quite valid. Don’t let yourself remain a fool by withholding the question you have in mind.
The bottom line
Juggling multiple projects at once could be challenging yet fun. To enjoy the fun part, you need to be comfortable with the fact that you will always be looking for ways to optimize how to handle your projects. I hope these tips could at least help you start reflecting on the way you approach your daily work.
Please feel free to share any tips you find useful with me so we can get better together!
