Too Many Projects: A Diagnosis

By Michael at 10:38 AM on June 12, 2010
Project Management main phases
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At one time, being successful meant relaxing on a beach in Cabo, tapping on a Blackberry to check Swiss bank accounts. These days, however, times have changed, and being successful tends to be equivalent to being busily working away at the top of a huge company. The more we have to do, it seems, the more successful we appear to be to others. I define success as being happy and at peace, however, so I decided to do a two-part series about how to tell if you have too many projects and how to remedy the situation.

How much is too much?

The first problem we need to tackle is defining how much is too much, in terms of project management. Some may prefer a number, but I prefer to express “too much” in relation to how much work and energy something takes and how much distress it causes.

As an example, I am currently juggling twelve major projects. I am:

  1. Programming a website from scratch;
  2. Starting my career as a professional belly dance performer and instructor;
  3. Continuing my web design business;
  4. Writing on this blog;
  5. Writing on my professional “Hey this is me” blog;
  6. Opening a belly dance online store;
  7. Planning my wedding, which is less than a month away;
  8. Writing a book about starting a business;
  9. Hunting for a job in Albuquerque and…;
  10. Looking for a place to live in Albuquerque before…;
  11. Moving to Albuquerque in order to keep on…;
  12. Getting my college education.

However, I can handle this many projects. It can be rough at times, but as long as I dedicate blocks of time to developing single projects and keep my to-do lists focused and organized, I am successful at doing everything.

Many people juggle this many projects – or even more – at once. It can be difficult to keep every ball up in the air at times, which is when problems begin to happen, things get neglected, and people feel forgotten and small. I define “too many” here as “causing detriment.”

So, if you feel a great pressure on your life from your many projects, it may be time to begin fixing the situation in order to have a more enjoyable experience. We only live once, so it is very important to have a good time the first time around.

Now that you have a diagnosis, it may be a good idea to read a remedy for having too many projects.

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3 Responses to “Too Many Projects: A Diagnosis”

  1. Caroline from San Diego Divorce says:

    Wow, congrats on your wedding! You have so many projects to do, I have to give it to you! Great job on organizing everything even though its a lot of work. You just have to manage your time properly.
    Caroline@San Diego Divorce´s last blog ..Post on Importance of Picking a Good Divorce Attorney

  2. [...] On balancing living with life « Too Many Projects: A Diagnosis [...]

  3. [...] few weeks ago I wrote about my many, many projects on The One-Year Tightrope. Shortly after, I wrote a post about how to remedy the problem of having too much on your plate. [...]

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