Hi Vitaliy.

I am a "Software Engineer" (I know it is a bad term....). Anyways, I 
deal with financial systems (databases and stuff. PIC's for me are a hobby).

Anyways, I find I have a few tricks when dealing with multiple projects 
of different priorities and deadlines, and while it may not apply to 
your work style, it does to mine. Additionally, it is one of those areas 
where some cross-pollination may help.

I use a bug/requirement-tracking system. I use a product called 
ClearQuest at work, but at home I use Mantis ( http://www.mantisbt.org/ 
). You can add custom fields to mantis, and it works out OK. Although 
these types of systems are geared toward software projects, they can be 
applied easily to other types of project management.

The benefit of the work system is that other people can essentially 
manage my time as the priorities change in my "workflow". I have adapted 
the work practices to at home as well, and for the most part it works 
there too.

All you have to get used to is being able to see at a glance what needs 
doing, and then to prioritize it as you go. The most significant part of 
getting it all done is knowing what actually needs doing (and when). If 
I don;t track things in a system like this then I forget what needs to 
happen, and I over-invest my time in the interesting projects rather 
than the important ones.

I am practiced enough to be able to periodically be able to look at 
clearquest, and plan my activities at a glance.

Obviously, you can not put all the minutia of your day in a tracking 
system, but, managing the larger items makes doing the smaller things easy.

For me it is a big deal to get a feel for items that need to be tracked 
individually, and those that are trivial. Additionally, I get to work at 
7am before the rabble, and get a few hours of good "big ticket" items 
done then.

Obviously, this is like my father-in-law telling me to keep a diary. It 
works well for him, but for me it just ain't happening. Different 
strokes and all.

Rolf


Vitaliy wrote:
> Hello List,
>
> [snip]
>   

> Thank you in advance for your responses, and sorry for the long post.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Vitaliy 
>
>   

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