How to Work on Multiple Projects Simultaneously?

By Lisa Allen

Raise your hand if you hate your boss!

This person is the sole reason that most of you have not been given promotions despite having worked harder than the rest of the employees. When the rest of your office colleagues go to parties who is the one working furiously on their desktop, YOU! But does that ever count when you are up for a raise or promotion, NO! These powerful people not only ignore your diligent work but also give the fruits of your labor to the party animal. Atrocious!

After years of getting stuck and grinded in the office system, we decided to investigate why are we getting deprived of these oh so powerful corporate leaders! The result shocked us to the core. It was certainly not what we had been expecting at all! As it turns out the reason the party animals in our office is getting promoted is that we are making it possible for them to do so with ease!

How is it possible?

Well, let us bring you in on a little secret; all those evenings that we surrendered fun in favor of work backfired, big time!

We learned that working hard is not enough to get that coveted senior position in our office. It does require the hard work that we put in but to get a high position in your office the skills is more management than a paper pusher. Yes, we were reduced to just that! Ants that can carry more load than they weigh but rarely get a taste of the delicacies that they have worked hard to carry!

This outraged us and we went all out in search of ways through which we can rectify the situation. In search of the solution the first piece of information that we came across is that our arch enemy has multiple management assignments and projects under their belt and none of which has ever been submitted at a date that is not the designated one.

Why do you say?

That is because we help him do so. We worked hard to complete the project before the deadline and the party animal is sitting there in the front line to take the credit in managing us, well! Believe us when we say that at that time we really decided to leave our job. Yes, we certainly did try to do that gained a lot of weight over the pitiful weekend and then decided to do something about it.

That need of getting our work life back on track we decided to look for things to counter the problem. In our quest for becoming a better version of ourselves we came across the best way to do so is to multitask.

Well, easier said than done! In the process of a multi-task, we faced a lot of difficulties that made us realize that we are control freaks. We would surely run ourselves to ground by trying to do it all by ourselves. But once we had our aim set, we went all out and learned how to successfully multitask. For those who are stuck or are about to get stuck in our position, here are a few ways you can successfully multitask –

1. Rule Number One – Priorities

Make this a priority! Yes, prioritize the work that needs your immediate attention. It is a must as not every work needs to be done now and by pushing the things that are not a priority of the moment. By doing this, you can get the most important one off your back with relative ease. For this to happen you must keep a record of the fundamentals of the work that needs your assistance almost immediately.

2. Rule Number Two – Plan Ahead

The best way to make important things a priority is to plan ahead. This is something that helped us in our personal lives, too. Planning ahead helps you avert the biggest disasters in your work and personal life. This also helps you work on the project that is a priority without having to worry much about the others that are due soon after you complete the project. All this is because you have planned ahead.

3. Rule Number Three – Time Management

You would fail to get things done without this. Multitasking is a great boon but without time management you would fail to get anything done on time. This is the real secret behind people who successfully multitask. They calculate what time they can comfortably spend doing a certain task and then shift to another and follow the routine. This is not really as difficult as it may sound and carving a certain time out for a project makes it possible for you to balance your personal life well.

4. Rule Number Four – Communicate

Not only is it good for a relationship but as it happens to be a great tool that ensures that you do not become a fool before your boss. Communicate well with the people that are working on the project simultaneously with you as it is the key to complete the task, well. Remember that you are not the only one who would benefit from the success of the project! Hence, there is no reason for you to do the work all by yourself. Also, communication with teammates also brings down the chance of any discrepancy once and for all.

5. Rule Number Five – Learn to Say No

There may be people who would praise you for your dedication to the company but that just ties you up on the category of the Yes-men. Learn to say no when a charming colleague of yours ask you to work extra hard to take care of their mistake. It is the right way to do handle things as it is not your fault that they are lacking behind. The only exception to the rule is if your boss is watching you then make a great show of listing the things that you have to do without because of the person in question and then say yes. Nothing scores you good marks than this.

6. Rule Number Six – Delegate

No, it is not a dirty word. If you wish to show the bosses of your company how good a manager you are then there is nothing better than successfully delegating your work to others. Other than your colleagues you should include the interns of your company, as well. To show your bosses how good you are at spotting and utilizing talent present in the company highlight the parts that are done by the interns and share the benefits of it. This not only shows your bosses your management skills but also tells them that you are prepared to take up any high official position that is offered to you.

7. Rule Number Seven – Complete Something Every Day

There is no harm in completing some piece of work before time. Try to schedule completing something every day as this way when you face a crisis would be able to be in the top of it without feeling extremely agitated. This is totally possible to do so as completing some project or the other ensures that you never have a lot on your plate forever.

8. Rule Number Eight – The Juggler

If you wish to succeed in the workplace you have to become the great juggler balancing almost everything better than the acrobats on a trapeze. It is not really as bad as you make it out to be but by walking it the fine balance between one work project and another, you would be able to get multiple things done at the same time. Just remember to put your focus on one project at a time.

Conclusion –

In the process of a multi-task, we faced a lot of difficulties that made us realize that we are control freaks. We would surely run ourselves to ground by trying to do it all by ourselves. But once we had our aim set we went all out and learned how to successfully multitask. For those who are stuck or are about to get stuck in our position, this blog will let them work successfully on multiple projects.