Work in several projects at the same time

Question

I wonder who of you can work on several projects the same day, dedicating only a short piece of time for each one. Or if you are able to work in the same hour, on two or three or more projects at the same time. I have so many things to do, that I am starting to wonder how could I do this? I thought about using several workspaces, and switching between then, etc. What other approaches do you use?

Answer 1

Just do it.

Have small tasks; do them, move on. Organise by priority.

It's that simple; forget gimmicks, forget misc tools and other timewasters. I find the simplest way the most effective.

Answer 2

You're spreading yourself too thin, trying to do too many things and in the end not really making any progress. This can make others frustrated by your apparent lack of progress. It's more efficient to focus on one thing at a time, but you still want to make progress on multiple projects. When you switch gears, there is a certain amount of changeover time. The most efficient way to work on multiple projects is to use the existing breaks in your day as the changeover points.

For example, we'll pretend that you have three breaks in a day: morning, lunch, and afternoon. This gives 4 blocks of approximately 2 hours each. In each of those blocks, make one project your primary focus.

Divide your projects in tasks that as small as possible. This helps you track progress and also gives a greater sense of accomplishment. Make notes at the task level and the project level to help yourself remember what you did/discovered.