Managing Time When Projects Overlap

Failing Up with Time Management & Context Switching How many of you have said to yourself: "I spent my whole day in meetings...when am I supposed to get any work done???" Time is your most valuable asset, and like it or not, your job likely requires a commitment to team meetings, 1:1s, huddles/working sessions, etc. The reality is, there's always going to feel like you have more work to do than time to do it. I've f'ed up by leaving an organization and thinking that my next role would allow me to have more time to get things done. It didn't turn out that way, and there was nobody to blame besides myself and my time management skills. I eventually realized that my biggest issue was context switching. I'd jump from meeting, to work on a project, to answer slack/emails, back into meetings. Sure, I was moving 10-15 projects forward incrementally. But I wasn't making the right type of progress since I wasn't allowing myself enough time to truly focus. What I eventually settled into was a schedule where I'd load my mornings with necessary meetings ("necessary" being the key word there). And my afternoons were blocked off for dedicated focus on specific marketing disciplines. Here's an approach that worked for me, but could be applied to any role, in any function, within any industry: Monday: Weekly Alignment Meetings & Campaign Building Tuesday: Events & Field Mktg Wednesday: RevOps Thursday: Product Mktg Friday: Thought Leadership/Content & Campaign Launches Those focus periods each day allowed me to increase my productivity, and also helped me say no to projects that didn't fit into one of my categories. Not sure where to get started? Try a short time study: Audit your schedule for 1-2 weeks. Categorize your meetings and working blocks throughout your day. Take a look at where you're spending your time, and determine if it aligns with your key priorities and objectives. Then organize your schedule in a way that can dedicate an appropriate amount of time each day/week to appropriate projects.

How I Track 10+ Projects at Once as a Program Manager at Amazon It’s a question I get a lot: How do you stay on top of everything without letting something slip? Different teams. Different timelines. Different deliverables. And a lot of noise. Here’s how I keep it all moving…and still make it home for dinner: 1/ I use one central tracking system for everything ↳ One doc, one view. ↳ If it’s not in the tracker, it doesn’t exist. ↳ I update it daily and keep it brutally simple. 2/ I start every week with a 15-minute self check-in ↳ What’s behind? What’s on track? What’s at risk? ↳ If I don’t do this Monday morning, the week runs me instead of the other way around. 3/ I color-code by priority and risk ↳ Green means I don’t need to touch it. ↳ Yellow means it needs a check-in. ↳ Red means I need to escalate or unblock. 4/ I follow up with context, not just reminders ↳ “Just checking in” turns into “We need this by Friday to keep X on track.” ↳ People respond to clarity, not pressure. 5/ I keep a running weekly update for leadership ↳ 3 bullets: what moved, what’s stuck, and what I need help with. ↳ It keeps everyone informed without another meeting. Managing 10+ projects isn’t about multitasking. It’s about systems, focus, and momentum. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to know where to look…and what to move next. How do you track your priorities without getting overwhelmed?

tried something new with my schedule last month that completely changed how i work... thought i'd share in case it helps anyone else who's drowning in meetings and deadlines 👇 so i noticed i was constantly tired by 3pm even though i was drinking enough water and getting decent sleep. turns out there's actual science behind this - our brains have about 4-5 hours of genuine focus available per day. that's it. instead of fighting this, i completely reorganized how i structure time at ova solutions: • first 90 minutes of my day: no slack, no email i work on one complex medical design problem before my brain gets fragmented. neuroscience calls this "cognitive momentum" - once you start deep work, it's easier to stay in flow • switched all my meetings to 25 or 50 minutes instead of 30/60 the stanford research on this is fascinating - even tiny breaks between cognitive tasks improve performance by 30% those 5-10 minute gaps let my brain actually transition • stopped multitasking entirely during important design reviews there's solid research showing context switching costs us 40% of productive time now my team knows when i'm looking at prototypes, my notifications are off completely • introduced what i call "decision minimalism" - wearing basically the same outfit each day, eating similar breakfasts, taking the same route to our office sounds boring but decision fatigue is real... saving those mental resources for the complex medical devices we're creating • started tracking my energy, not just my time discovered i can handle complex FDA compliance problems until about 2pm, then my brain needs creative or collaborative work after that working with your natural cognitive rhythms is game-changing the weirdest part? by working with my brain's natural limitations rather than pretending i can focus for 10 hours straight, we've actually accelerated three major projects this quarter what's something counterintuitive you've tried that made your workday better? genuinely curious what works for other people in product development... #timemanagement #productivity #medtech #worklifebalance