There’s no doubt that I have a lot of interests the pique my fancy. And although none of them pay hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, I am highly engaged in my many projects. Hopefully, something will become of everything I’m involved in online.

Of course, the success of these things relies on my ability to find time to manage them. In fact, that’s what 2020 was supposed to be all about: the Year of Effort.

Even though the going has been a bit slow, between COVID-19, having to find a home, and putting the new house together, it’s all coming along nicely…ish. I should still end the year on a higher note than ever before.

How Many Projects Do I Have?

For starters, I have three primary blogs that I am working on improving in 2020. Colorado Plays, Crossing Colorado, and WriterSanctuary. I’m about to add a fourth as I am doing an experiment on YouTube for building a better blog.

Then, I have this one. My blog here is simply a culmination of everything I’m involved in online.

When it comes to YouTube, I have WriterSanctuary and Colorado Plays doing most of the uploading. I do have a channel for Crossing Colorado, but I don’t upload on it as regularly at the moment.

I’m also nearing the completion of VII on Wattpad. Eventually, I want to turn it into a full-fledged novel.

And this doesn’t include the work I do for GreenGeeks or anything else that is on the side in terms of writing content for clients.

The problem with having many projects is that if you’re not careful about your time, none of them will develop evenly. And yes, right now, I am kind of trying to give myself a pep talk.

Why Do I Try to Manage So Many Projects?

Am I the type of person who throws something at the wall to see what sticks? Not in every case. Sometimes, I will with the content or topics I cover. But when it comes to all of the niches, it’s more than just seeing if I can make a buck.

It goes a lot deeper than that. And although I sometimes talk about dumping something from my plate, I don’t know if I could really shut any one thing down.

It’s Difficult for Me to Focus On Just One Thing

Perhaps it’s a form of ADD, but it’s always been difficult for me to maintain a strong focus on just one thing. Well, except for the Iliff Computer Center. That’s kind of a sore spot for me, still.

Like the saying goes, “A jack of all trades, but a master of none.”

I’ve always been able to do the things I want to do fairly well. But to “master” any one specific task, I don’t really know if I have it in me. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It means I can keep myself busy relatively easy, whether it’s work or play.

My Major Interests Are Scattered

One of the biggest issues I have with collecting so many projects is because I love doing them all. I want to do everything and be involved. Which causes conflicts now and then, especially when it comes to time management.

I love writing. I also love gaming and helping charities. I’m in the process of losing the last of my weight, and I love many of the practical reasons of living more “green.”

So, I have a blog reflecting everything that I am highly interested in. I would also love to do more for the YouTube channels of each platform. And since I don’t make enough to hire additional help, most of the many projects fall on my shoulders.

Until I can squirrel away time to teach my friend and son who want to help me with these projects.

I Enjoy Working on the Many Projects I Have

Like I said, I love everything I am involved in creating. I feel a sense of relaxation and joy when I spend time creating content for any of these platforms.

I suppose you can say it’s quite therapeutic for me.

Everyone needs a hobby, and mine involve things I would love to see succeed on some level.

Not only that, but it’s a shift from being a ghostwriter. After writing content for more than seven years without getting credit for being the author, it’s nice to see my name attached to something.

Even if it’s a WordPress tutorial.

Managing Time for the Many Projects I Work On

When it comes to managing so much, it all comes down to making the most out of the day. This means finding time-sinks and realizing that you probably have more time in the day than you realize.

Now, I haven’t had the most stellar of years. I’ve had to work through a lot of personal turmoil and world events over the last 10 months. However, this year is still shaping up to be the most productive yet.

So, how do I manage the time for the many projects in my life?

My Infamous Spreadsheets

If you’ve read or seen my content from WriterSanctuary, you’ll know that I have a major problem when it comes to spreadsheets. Though, I wouldn’t say it’s a “problem” per se, but more of an addiction.

The spreadsheet that I use for tracking work tells me exactly to the minute how much time I actually spend on being productive each day. It will also tell me my estimated salary, words per hour, and so much more.

But in this case, I can see how many minutes I work. I then leverage those minutes against what a traditional 8-hour workday would look like. Then, the spreadsheet gives me a percentage of how “efficient” I am.

Yes, I am a HUGE dork.

Anyway, it’s my goal to have as close to 100% as possible – this is a full eight hours of work. Keep in mind that I stop the time whenever I need a break, go to the bathroom, make lunch…any time that I am not actually working on one of the many projects I manage.

It’s a great way to see how much time in a day that is actually wasted when you’re working from home. You’re accountable to only yourself and your clients. Without a boss looking over your shoulder, you need to find ways to keep motivated.

Breaking Personal Records

But tracking how much time I spend in a day is only part of schedule management. Then, I try to break my daily records to see if today can be more productive than yesterday.

Right now, I am tracking “time” mostly. This is because not every project actually pays me anything. For example, this blog post is going under my Personal Projects category but counts towards my total time for the day.

I don’t make a single cent since this site isn’t currently monetized.

I work on this blog because it’s helping to boost my reputation online as a writer as well as keep me practiced at writing in general.

Consider anything you do that improves the effectiveness as your job as time well spent. Why do you think professional athletes work hard during the off-season?

Breaking personal records is a way I gamify each day. That’s because of how much fun I find tracking data and surpassing my abilities.

See…dork.

How many projects do you handle each day on a professional level?

Will anything I manage develop into an outright success over time? I don’t know, to be honest. But, I’ll still govern over the many projects to see how far I can take each one.

The first step, though, is to make sure every minute that is scheduled is actually productive. Getting sucked into the weird areas of YouTube or binge-watching Deep Space 9 for the 10th time on Netflix isn’t helping.