How to Manage Multiple Projects While Minimizing the Impact on Your Health
Stress and pressure are highly destructive. Excessive caffeine and poor nutrition only accelerate physical and mental burnout. Even a single project can have a very destructive effect on your body, so imagine what two or more parallel projects might do. Juggling a few projects at once for a year can ruin your health, especially in your 40s.
Even if you do not feel the physical toll now, you are racking up a “health debt” that you will eventually have to repay. That is why it is important to understand how the processes related to overwork work.
A sedentary desk job causes physical tension in the spine and neck, and the pressure to deliver can lead to digestive issues.
First and foremost, the ability to keep perspective is key — and that is one of the advantages of managing several projects. It helps you keep your distance and reduces frustration, especially given how frequently human-led projects are inefficient. I remember being so concerned with code formatting standards or team members slacking off that I would find myself awake at 5 AM with those thoughts on my mind.