One of My Secrets to Managing Multiple Projects at Once

Okay, so I admit. I sort of thrive on juggling lots of balls
in the air at the same time. No, not literally. I honestly probably couldn’t
juggle one ball alone without dropping it.

But when it comes to my writing work… yes, I juggle a ton of
projects at once. That’s mainly because I’m an Achiever with a capital A. (If
you’ve taken the Enneagram Personality Test, you’d classify me as a three, and
you’d be right).

There are times when I might even describe myself as an
over-achiever. But that’s a story for a different day.

If you were to sit down with me at my desk (aka the dining
room table), you’d see neat stacks not only sitting on the table, but on the
chairs. You’d see lots of notebooks with plot ideas carefully labeled and
binders with research carefully catalogued.  You’d see research books for current and
upcoming stories, manila folders containing the business aspects of being an
author, clipboards with spreadsheets  of schedules,
etc.

Even with all those things keeping my achiever self on
track, there is one thing I rely on more than any other. And that’s my planner.

This past year I used a simple day-timer that my daughter gave me for Christmas. I know. Paper planners are old-fashioned in the digital age. But give me some credit. I gave the digital calendar/planner a try for a while.  I found it’s just not the same as good old paper and pencil. For me, that old adage is really true: out of sight, out of mind. I’m better able to keep track of my to-do lists when they’re sitting right in front of me staring at me than when they’re hidden away on an app on my phone.

So, yes, I have a planner. I divide each day into two
columns. In one I write down the non-writing related things I need to get done
including the day’s cleaning, emails to send, errands to run, and even
exercising.

In the second column I write down all the writing-related
work I plan to accomplish. That includes my daily word count (for a first
draft) as well as how many chapters I need to edit. It helps me to break down
my tasks into bite sizes so that I know exactly how much I need to accomplish
each day. For example, I might need to write 2000 words on one project and edit
3-4 chapters on another. With the checklist keeping me on track, I know how
much I need to do every day in order to get the projects done in a timely
manner.

I try to also add smaller items to my writing to-do list
everyday including things like writing a blog post or working on marketing stuff.

Of course, since I have multiple projects that I independently
publish (in addition to my traditional books), I also have to keep track of all
the things I need to do for each of my indie books.  I use a lot of sticky notes with lists (that I
can move around in my planner). As ideas come up or I remember something I need
to do, I jot those down on the sticky notes for the appropriate books, which
helps me not to forget anything (most of the time!).

In the coming year 2020, I’m trying out “My Brilliant Writing Planner” through Susie May Warren’s My Book Therapy. Already, I’ve got sticky notes plastered throughout it in preparation for the upcoming year! While the planner is on the pricey side, it’s SUPER big and full of awesome-looking planning stuff. I’m looking forward to using it!

So a paper and pencil planner—that’s my simple secret to juggling multiple projects at once.

How about YOU? What helps you juggle all of your projects?