Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Multi-Tasking Prevents Madness

Want to avoid writer’s block that limits your productivity? Work on more than one project at a time. So if you do get stuck on one project, you can jump to another one and keep typing away.

I usually work on 3 to 5 projects at one time with a blend of long-term projects (book-length projects or client projects that involve at least 10 hours worth of project time) and short-term ones with rapidly approaching deadlines, and some not-so-urgent (but important) other projects such as self-promotion materials, experimental-projects, or just thinking-on-paper projects (brainstorming).

This blend allows me to leap into a completely different project if I do get stuck and the change of pace often helps my mind work out whatever problem I have with the first project in the “background.”

Don’t work on more than 5 projects though. Working on more than 5 waters down your focus on the rest of them, and you lose track of your progress on all of them. Plus, you run the risk of never completing ANY project.

If you are afraid of forgetting future project ideas, list them with some notes in an idea notebook or folder, or keep a separate file for your ideas on the desktop of your computer or some other prominent location.