How to Manage Multiple Projects
Currently, I’m in Urinetown with the Beverly Theatre Guild, and understudying five tracks for Richard III with Eclectic Full Contact Theatre. In addition to that, I’m also completing my final semester of college, working as a TA for the stage combat program, directing a scene from Sender by Ike Holter with Columbia College, and serving as a dramaturg for Columbia’s Mainstage production of Failure: A Love Story by Philip Dawkins. In short… I’m doing a lot. So of course, the main question is how am I going to handle it all?
The easy answer is that I won’t, and the will be some point in October where I finally realize the chaos that I got myself into. The more complex answer is that I fully believe I can make it to 2020 alive and whole, and here’s three ways how:
1) Keeping organized
My room may always be messy, but my planner definitely isn’t. My planner keeps everything I have to do on something physical so I don’t have to worry about keeping anything in my head except for my lines and blocking. Color coding is my best friend, especially with Richard III, where I’m learning multiple fights within one scene.
2) Compartmentalizing
When you’ve got a lot of things to do, it’s very tempting to hop back and forth between different things, since that seems like to best way to multitask. However, multiple studies suggest that multitasking is actually less productive than just doing one thing at a time. Dedicate an hour or so to one project, then move on to another. And remember to take breaks!
3) Communication!!
Look, when you’ve got a lot of commitments, double booking is bound to happen. Make sure you let both parties know about the issue as you try to work something out. As someone who is double-booked very frequently, I’ve seen what happens when you try to handle it without telling anyone. Do better than past me.
As I go through these next couple of hectic months, I’ll try to also keep this website updated with things, although with everything I’ve got already… we’ll see what happens.