How do you manage your time working on multiple projects?

[Sheppard_za]

For the first time in my life I am in a position where I have to manage multiple projects. I have found that my way of working is causing delays and bottlenecks and I am missing tasks because I am not keeping track of what is critical. I have previously only really worked on a project at a time, so all my energy went into the next deadline. So, I basically want to know, how do you manage your time between project milestones, how to you keep track of tasks that need to be completed (and the expected time it will take), how do you prioritise tasks and how do you keep track of progress?

I am also interested in how you are keeping track of people that you need to follow up with, or people that need to be contacted.

Lastly, do you use any software for this? I like the idea of visually seeing how my time is split ons tasks to identify gaps in my schedule, or to identify bottlenecks, but I want the ability to easily move tasks if needed without necessarily moving deadlines. I see there is a lot of productivity apps and such online, but I want to avoid a subscription as far as possible.

We use MS projects for project schedules, but that is about it and then Excel for keeping a to-do list, but I am finding that becuase the Excel to-do items are not linked to a milestone, they are easily missed. I also tend to forget to follow up with people on outstanding items with a to-list.

Any suggestions on how to more effectively manage my projects or advice would be appreciated.

 

[Sinbad]

Something like a kanban board. Lots of free implementations of those out there.

 

[B-1]

+1 for some sort of prioritised backlog with dependency mapping, effort sizing, user stories and acceptance criteria.

 

[Pho3nix]

GitHub Projects or Jira for the Kanban experience.

 

[Smokey888]

Trello(Free), can be used to keep track of tasks, and Outlook Calendar, for reminders of follow ups.

 

[Paul Kemp]

Trello(Free), can be used to keep track of tasks, and Outlook Calendar, for reminders of follow ups.

I use Trello with kanban methodology. Simple and effective way to be productive outside of what the broader(internal and external) teams use.

 

[AlmightyBender]

Trello(Free), can be used to keep track of tasks, and Outlook Calendar, for reminders of follow ups.

Yep, Trello for the free option. +1 from me

But I would point out that whoever is employing you should be paying for the tools you need to perform the basic functions of your job.

Unless you are a pure independent contractor and your contract specifies that you will provide those tools.

 

[The_MAC]

I use "Planner" from Microsoft, it's like Trello and many other "Planners", it's pretty flexible and I see they are constantly improving it - that's if you have a MS account (mine is a corporate license). It's embedded into Teams.

 

[Smokey888]

Yep, Trello for the free option. +1 from me

But I would point out that whoever is employing you should be paying for the tools you need to perform the basic functions of your job.

Unless you are a pure independent contractor and your contract specifies that you will provide those tools.

Jip I agree, and most companies nowadays have O365, which comes with basic planner, which also works just fine.