how many projects do you take on at once?

[sarepairman2]

I would probobly say ~20. I do this mostly to get good deals on equipment/parts necessary to fabricate an experiment. Things can be done SO MUCH CHEAPER if you just lie in waiting, like a alligator.

[TerraHertz]

Always somewhere between ridiculously too many, and stupidly too many. Too many to count - it's a fuzzy number. Meaning, the number has sat around getting fatter for so long it's grown fuzz.
Pic is of my futile attempt to keep track. Clipboards are all related to 'things in progress'.  So are the on-screen folders lists.

Realistically, I can only focus on about 2 or 3 projects at once. Others are just sitting in the queue waiting on something or other. May be parts arriving, or thinking about some obstacle I encountered, or wedged due to dependency on some other project, or... [long list of reasons.]

It's very satisfying to be finally crossing off all the 'to do' items for a project, so it's finished. Hoping to reach that happy moment with one project today - a re-organization and wiring upgrade of one of my workshop areas. Current state is, no power in that building due to the power board being isolated and under-modification. Thank you extension cords and portable lights.

[Psi]

yeah, 5-10 sounds about right for me.

Usually only 2 active ones though. but those vary from week to week.

They are often quite interrelated. One project might be building a testing jig for another project so i have time for a 3rd project.  And that project might be making some testgear/device i need for a future project 


I'm no where near organised enough to have clipboards for each project.  I do have a set of 10 kitting parts trays though, and i keep parts for each project in its own tray/trays

[calexanian]

Same story here. I have many projects going but can only actively focus on a few at a time. At work I have about 5 projects and typically touch on only 3 a day or so. At home I have many projects on hold right now as I am restoring a car which is taking up a large amount of my garage and is a priority. Most of my other personal projects are on hold until further notice so to speak.

[marshallh]

I have about 11 projects currently
Progress is slow

[German_EE]

Two maximum, but if possible only one. I hate the idea of a partially completed project that's sitting on the shelf gathering dust whilst waiting for either a) an essential part or b) another piece of equipment to be finished. So, I have a series of large boxes where parts for each particular project are accumulated and once everything is available I build the project. A little bit of project management is also involved because one project may depend on another being complete, for example, it would be silly to build the new frequency counter until the frequency standard is up and running.

[vk3yedotcom]

Between 2 and 4 is about optimum for me.

It cannot be just one because if you reach a stalemate (eg waiting to get a part, you get stuck or  you lose interest if something doesn't go to plan) you need something else to go on with.

Above 4 represents too many unbuilt projects and too slow progress on any.

[rob77]

all of them ! 
but seriously - approx 5-10 in progress all the time - usually i start a new one when i got excited about something (i have to build such a thing !) and once started usually it'll go on hold because of something missing - and to use up the wave of enthusiasm - i'm finishing one of the other open projects of course simple projects will not get into the queue - i finish them quickly if i have all the parts and time required

[HighVoltage]

Based on an old saying:
"If you want to get something done, ask a busy person"

Somehow I am always busy and always have too many projects and then comes one more.
At the end of the day it only counts, how many you get done.
And if something else comes up - and it always does - there is not enough time in a day.

Right now I have about 10 projects or so.
 

[poorchava]

1-3 commercial ones depending on their complexity and about 10 private projects on which I work when commercial ones are on hold for whatever reason.

Sent from my HTC One M8s using Tapatalk

[DrGeoff]

Around 20 concurrently. That way there is no downtime

[TerraHertz]

Two maximum, but if possible only one. I hate the idea of a partially completed project that's sitting on the shelf gathering dust whilst waiting for either a) an essential part or b) another piece of equipment to be finished. So, I have a series of large boxes where parts for each particular project are accumulated and once everything is available I build the project. A little bit of project management is also involved because one project may depend on another being complete, for example, it would be silly to build the new frequency counter until the frequency standard is up and running.

Wow, such self control! But it sounds like you rarely begin projects where there's a large element of "I don't know how to do this ... yet" and so they never get stuck while you try to work out some (or multiple) difficult problems?

This would be my #1 project-stall cause. Sometimes it's very unexpected - for instance I have a whole building (large shed for metal casting,  woodworking, and a blacksmith's forge setup) completely stalled due to a stupid problem with fabricating large (and odd) stainless steel hinges for the main doors. Did not expect to have a problem with that. And once a project gets bumped down the queue for reasons like that, it's hard to motivate and find time to bump it back to the top again. Ha ha... but 'sitting on the shelf' is not a problem with that one. It's a building. It contains shelves. The only thing it accumulates is leaves on the roof, and piles of junk inside since as it is now I use it for random storage. Oh, and possum nests, since, absent doors.

Also I find interdependencies are the next biggest stall cause.  Especially when combined with 'don't know how to do it'. For eg some custom rack-mounted gear is stalled because I want the instrument fascias to have color anodized artwork, and so I need both an anodizing setup (easy) plus facility to ink-jet print onto metal surfaces (anodized but not yet sealed.) Would also like to be able to ink-jet print onto curved metal surfaces, eg cones of dials. This project is hard, and requires a whole 'nother series of projects.

Third biggest problem: time and motivation. Both generally in short supply.

[Kilrah]

Most of my projects are "wow awesome idea let's do it!" - order components - move on to something else and slowly watch interest fade away during the week or 2 it takes for them to come - receive components - open the box because yay new stuff, but initial momentum has gone - forget stuff on a shelf.
It's annoying   

[alexanderbrevig]

I'm new to electronics but I am a software engineer. I'm used to many projects but I found that I have best success with completion if I don't start until all parts are in house. I also save as much as I can of the  process itself. So when the final parts arrive I still have fun challenges to take on.