[The Random Factor] What's next?

[The Random Factor]

Hey folks, how's your week been? Been busy?
Too much to do? Not enough time?  

Hopefully, today's Random Factor can help.

Let's say you have 4 projects you need to get 
done. To keep it simple let's assume that each 
project has 4 one-week phases, that each project 
is independent from each other, and that none 
have a deadline.

Let's represent the projects as A,B,C,D, and 
the 4 phases represented as such:

AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD

There are two basic approaches.

The intuitive approach is cyclical. Since we want 
to keep all our projects moving forward, we take 
one week for project A, one for project B, etc. 

(1) ABCD ABCD ABCD A*B*C*D*

* marks when the project is finished.

Consider instead the second approach. 

(2) AAAA* BBBB* CCCC* DDDD*

With approach (2) project A is finished after 
week 4, project B is finished after week 8, 
and C is finished after week 12. That means 
3 projects are done by week 13, the time it 
that project A would be finished using 
approach (1).

Since projects usually have a benefit upon 
completion, (if only getting it off your mind) 
using approach (2) means you benefit from project 
A eight weeks longer, project B six weeks longer,
and project C three weeks longer. 

Consider also the reality that in a 16 week period 
you will likely find more projects (E & F) to do, 
so option (1) actually plays out like this:

A B C D A B C D E A B C D E F A* B* C* D* E F E* F F*

Using approach (1) project A is not done until 
after week 16, but using the approach (2) by week 
16 projects A, B, C, & D are all done. 

Unfortunately, in reality, we usually can't focus on 
just one thing, but then again, there are usually 
low-priority projects that should wait.

to making progress every day,

Some Guy

p.s. if you have any fun projects you'd like to 
share, I'd love to hear about them.

p.p.s. New to the Random Factor? Check out the 
archives http://the-random-factor.blogspot.com/ 

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