How to handle unrealistic schedules?

Question

How do you personally handle unrealistic schedules?

Currently I have a high workload (who doesn't) but I am still getting projects added to my list. I am trying to stay positive and motivated but the workload is killing my performance. Mainly due to the fact that I trying to think about all the projects at once and the task switching is not working.

I don't support multithreading. Every new project is hot and must be done because it's so important. I am now being asked about working over and I wouldn't mind it but I don't feel that it will help the situation. I feel that I will eventually burn out and I love my career too much to let this happen. I want to do as much as I can to help move the company forward but eventually someone has to say that we can't do this.

My thought is to just do what I can while at work and not worry about the overtime. I tend to work at home if I am really interested in a project but even this is starting to go away. I don't want to anymore because it's just not working. I would like to know what others think.

Answer 1

it sounds like you are ready for Getting Things Done

Answer 2

If task switching is the problem, don't switch tasks. If people nag about a certain task, tell them (bluntly) that you have priorities, and you'll get to them in time. In my case, my boss actively buffers my team from the worklist-pileup by confronting the analysts who are putting in the requests, and putting them in their place (in the queue)

No matter what, if your work queue is piling up, the best solution will combine focussing on completing tasks (hopefully you are using some kind of task/issue tracker... I use TFS but there are plenty of alternatives) and being up-front to your task-setters (boss, business analysis, marketing dept, or clients) that you simply cannot make everyone your top priority.

Answer 3

Just say no. Having too much on your plate is generally a sign of being too agreeable ;)

In the case where you're handed something with an arbitrary deadline that can't work, explain your stance, provide how long you think it will actually take and hope for the best. If you have a sane management chain, it might resolve itself. If not...

Answer 4

Nancy Reagan told me to 'just say no.' Seriously, I've been in your position before. Time management is partly a measure of maturity. If you want to deliver high quality work, and you can't do it with a ton of things on your plate, you must respectfully decline new work. Otherwise you are being irresponsible and not delivering on committments you've already made.

You'd be surprised how often the "must be done yesterday" projects can actually be done next week.

By the way, stick to it, you'll get through (your question sounds a little stressed, all blobbed up in one paragraph, like you didn't breathe while you were typing it)

Answer 5

What we do at work is to maintain a list of prioritized tasks for each person. That way everyone got a pretty good overview of the big picture. Usually you work on the list from top to bottom. If there's more work to do then you can handle it just means that low prioritized tasks don't get done. Assign the priorities is a collaborative effort. "Everything is sooo important" will just mean that I can pick what I want to do first! ;)

Answer 6

I have the same problem of you currently. Tommorow we have a meeting and I will calmly show all task that I have. I think, sometime, people do not see all tasks but only remember the lastest they have gave you.

Explain that you have overload of work to your manager and this will only reduce your performance if he keeps continue to push work on your desk.

I always do when I have too much work a list that I ask the manager what he wants me to switch to by priorities. This way he see the list of thing to do.

Answer 7

In countering a schedule that is too aggressive, providing detail in support of your argument is invaluable. You can justify a longer schedule by listing all of the required tasks (including test, documentation etc. of course), decomposing to subtasks , and including an allowance for the unknown, that which has yet to be fully fleshed out, vacations, and all other stuff.

You need to get down to a level at which your manager cannot cheese-pare you to a smaller duration or effectively challenge your tasks. If you expect the task to last for a week then you at least need to identify subtasks down to the hourly level, I think. For a longer task like a one month project then any task that is longer than a day is going to be vulnerable.

In any case, this ought to be a part of your plan -- formalising it is your most effective defence.

Answer 8

Sounds like a management issue. You need to have a talk with your manager and if it looks like the situation is not going to change, start looking for a different job.

Don't throw away your entire career just because the company you happen to be working at today has lousy organization. There are better companies out there. You will eventually burn out if you stay in this situation.

Answer 9

I think a lot of developers/programmers have been in the position you are in. I see a lot of good suggestions here including reading Getting Things Done and not being afraid to say no. In my personal experience the no is rarely accepted, but it helps to set expectations.

Everyone always seems to prioritize their projects as the highest of priorities, or at least it can seem like it sometimes. In my experience this means that the business owner / analyst is getting pressure and wants to be able to show progress on the project.

This is one reason that I have been shifting to agile methodologies. One consequence of this for me was dividing my tasks into manageable chunks and returning to the business owner with completed parts of the project for both feedback and to assure them that while the project may not be complete it is visibly progressing.

It can also be easier to "multitask" between chunks of these larger projects, moving from a completed chunk of one project to a chunk of another project, to show that progress is being made accross the board.

Of course there are times when there are hard and fast deadlines and this is when improving your personal time management skills, for instance with GTD, can help as well.

Answer 10

1. Subtly advertise your workload during status meetings.

2. When asked to do a new project, you can negotiate easier to either do it after your current one, or take it, but with a minor role only.

3. Do you have team members? This is the perfect opportunity to delegate non-critical tasks.

4. Always and always coordinate with your manager and team lead. Sometimes they unintentionally overload a team member with tasks simply because they do not have the full idea about the effort and time you need to accomplish tasks. See #1.

Answer 11

Generally I would ask my manager what is the priority of my workload as this determines what gets done and what doesn't as I can only do so much in a day and while things may be due ASAP, I am not superman, nor do I have the desire to become so. I may give some estimates as to how long I believe something will take, but if I see that I can't stick to that estimate, I would want to let someone, e.g. developer manager or project manager, know as soon as I can so that they can determine what steps they want to take to remedy the situation which seems like the best compromise of being able to admit the following: 1) I do make mistakes and this is one case, 2) What solution do you see as my best course of action because of this, 3) What warning signs were missed that may be worth pointing out in the future when estimating this kind of task.

Think about it this way: If management isn't happy about what you got done, ask them what order would they prefer as you are open to change priorities as needed and you are doing what is considered top priority. If things are falling by the wayside then there are a few possible results: 1) Someone complains and more bodies get thrown onto the task, 2) Priorities change which you should be able to handle, or 3) It doesn't matter as the initial request was a simple whim from someone that doesn't care about what happened to it.

Answer 12

Make your task list public and obvious.

Set-up a white board in you cube/office/patch of carpet. List on it ALL the projects that you have going on, a % complete, and a status (running/hold/waiting); maybe even a priority.

Your whole goal here is to make your boss (and anyone else say); whoa, he's got a lot of tasks on his plate. The he/she can decide to either add a task or not, or replace a task.

Answer 13

Reminds me of this army story /. comment.

Answer 14

I have an ordered list of projects on a whiteboard in my office.
I mark each with percent% complete

Whenever I get something new from my manager I ask where in the order my manager wants to place the project. Then make sure he receives an e-mail with a list of the updated expected completion dates on projects with a lower priority.

I try not to work on more than 3 projects at any time (but one of those will only be simple time filler that can get buy with an hour every now and then [like simple web page updates]). Switching between projects is just a drain on productivity that trying to do more is counter-productive.

Answer 15

you guys are assuming Bobby's boss is a reasonable person.

what do i mean?

well, i worked at a company and had a similar situation. im actually quite good at organising my time, scheduling, delegation, and task distribution.

no matter what i did, the boss kept on adding more projects and wondering why things werent getting done.

at one point, i said to him "im not getting things done because im not able to exist in multiple streams of the space time continuum" <- needless to say, he wasnt impressed by this smart-ass statement. i would never say something like this again, it just exacerbated the situation.

my point is; you may be in a situation where your boss may not care how much work you have on, just that you 'get it done'.

LM