Workload

I’ve read before that the optimal number of large projects for a person to have going at the same time is 3. I can’t remember where I read that or I’d attribute them – maybe it was in The Mythical Man Month. Wherever it was I agree with it, 3 is a good number. Right now I have 6 or 7 going at the same time, depending on how you count them.

It is through no real fault of my own because a few of the projects have been dragging on for months requiring very little effort from me. But they still weigh on my mind because they are still obligations. They are worse than the other projects because they could come due at any time once the stars align in the right way.

That’s to say that I can’t give any good advice about keeping your workload light enough although I do hope that things will normalize more as our company becomes established and we get better at forecasting projects.

I do have a piece of advice about the opposite problem of not having enough to do. Make up work. Give yourself projects, there is always something to do. Don’t sit around waiting because you’ll lose your momentum.