The ideal number of active projects

Up: § My productivity system

Summary

  • 30 active projects across all areas of focus
  • 5 focus projects and 10 active projects per area

Notes

I've been diligent about using the GTD methodology again since since Fall of 2023. It's now June 2024, and a key reflection I've had is that I've had too many active projects on the go at once, and it overwhelms me with Next Actions and projects to keep on top of.

It seems wise to reduce the number of active projects, and aim to do less, and complete projects sooner.

I have 3 main ■ Areas of Focus (My Areas of Focus):

  • Buffer
  • Side Hustle
  • Personal

I have the concept of focus projects and active projects. In many ways I introduced the idea of focus projects because I had too many active projects and I wanted to highlight the really important projects. Perhaps over time, this category will feel less necessary. With that said, it does feel useful to have both focus projects and active projects, because if I can be pushing to complete some really important projects while also making progress on the upcoming projects too, that feels useful. It also feels like it's in line with the Getting Things Done methodology to break down the next actions by context and be able to keep a variety of projects ticking along.

It's still useful to bring some constraints to my number of focus and active projects.

Currently (June 13, 2024) I have:

  • Buffer (20 total projects)
    • 6 focus projects
    • 14 active projects
  • Side Hustle (18 total projects)
    • 5 focus projects
    • 13 active projects
  • Personal (29 total projects)
    • 14 focus projects
    • 15 active projects

That's clearly too many projects. It's 67 projects across all areas. Yikes. I need to reduce the number down.

I think a good goal is to get down to 30 projects across all areas. And it probably makes sense to have 5 focus projects and 10 active projects. That feels like the right ratio of focus to active projects.

Currently with 67 projects, 108 Next Actions. The great thing about reducing down active and focus projects is that I can remove the next label from tasks that I move to soon and maybe, and thereby reduce down my Next Actions list. This feels like an important overall simplification.

There's a slight argument that I could have more projects in the Buffer area, as that is a large chunk of my time and I also have a whole team I'm delegating to. I will allow myself some flexibility for that to grow larger, however right now with only 6 focus projects and 14 active projects it feels doable to also get that down to the 5 and 10.

Further thoughts - July 27, 2024

It's worth reflecting on how much time I have for each Area of Focus. I have the most time for Buffer, and then probably equally little time for Side Hustle and Personal. Therefore, it may make sense to have roughly double the number of active projects for Buffer vs the other areas. The only caveat is that I have a lot of reactive work within Buffer, a lot of meetings, etc. However, all of that should be serving some purpose or moving certain projects forward, and I should be striving to be more proactive in how I'm spending my time. I also need to improve at delegation, which can be captured and distinguished from projects I am taking on entirely myself.