Go Ahead, Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

In most cases more is usually considered better.  More sales leads turn into more opportunities for clients.  More billable hours lead to more profit.  These are good examples, however, this isn't a universal law.  More of one thing doesn't always lead to more of a good thing.  Some times it can lead to a bad thing, especially if you're someone who's prone to taking on projects or tasks simply because you know you can do the work.   If you're "that person", the one with too many things to do and not enough time to them, then you might want to take a knee.

Having too much work in progress isn't a hallmark of someone who's on the fast path to success.  It's the hallmark of someone who's on the fast track to distress.  It's easy to be sucked into the belief that more activity is a good thing either because the organization in which you belong celebrates the harried or because you falsely believe that to get ahead you need to be covered with work over your head. 

I've been in this environment and it sucks.  Nothing's more frustrating and more inefficient than taking on work without purpose, without a quantifiable or qualitative result.

Biting off more than you can chew by loading up your plate with every project you can take on leads to sub-optimization, mistakes, and burnout.  I've been there.  At one point in my career I was working on a full course load for my distance MBA, adjusting to a new public works director position, and learning to be a dad with a new born.  In retrospect, any one of these items would have been enough.  But because of my professional upbringing and drive to move ahead, I took on all three.  I graduated, was successful in the new position, and I made it through the new dad break-in period.  I also was burned-out and delivered way less than 100% on the job and in my schoolwork. 

The simple fact is that too much work in progress is too much of an opportunity to fall short of the expectations of others and yourself.  Before taking on multiple, major projects make sure you understand what you're getting into:

How many active projects do you have in play? 

How many work hours do you have available per week to invest in each one?

What are the risks of delaying starting the new project?

Do you have hard completion dates for your work in progress?  If not, set them?

Is the new project of higher importance than those already in play?  If so, what can you stop working on?

What are the risks of stopping work on a project already in motion?

Be very selective in what you invest your time in.  Squander it on the mundane or unimportant and you won't have a reserve of time and energy to tackle the truly important projects.  Take on more workload than you have time to manage and you run the risk of sub-optimization, inefficiency and burnout.

Our job is to do work of value, not just to do work.

"Multitasking: A nice way to say that you’re doing many different things at the same time. And since no one can divide by zero, that means you’re doing many different things half-assed."  UrbanDictionary.com

 Christian Knutson, P.E., PMP is a leader, civil engineer, and author.  He’s an accomplished professional specializing in A/E/C work internationally and author of The Engineer Leader, a recognized blog on leadership and life success for engineers and professionals. 

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