How to balance multiple work projects using implementation mode
I’ve finally developed a sustainable and flexible method I use to get all my different work projects done without sacrificing family life or self care.
In the last few months I’ve been starting a bunch of new projects (this website, a new product business, and offering a marketing service) in addition to what I’ve already got going on.
I found myself wondering why I wasn’t more stressed out by these projects when I already have other work going at the same time. How was I getting it all done in 15-20 hours per week?
I gave it some thought and came up with a name for my method... so now I can tell you all about it.
Get it all done (and stay balanced)
If you’re like me, your highest priority is your family. You love your spouse and kids. More than anything else, you want to be there for them — engaged and present.
And yet you also know you feel like your best self when you’re making time for your creative passions.
I’ve learned it’s possible to have the flexibility to create a fulfilling family life AND a fulfilling creative life.
One way I’ve found to do that is by dividing my business into two modes of operation: Maintenance Mode and Implementation Mode.
In this article, I’ll teach you about these two modes of operation and how thinking this way allows me the freedom and flexibility to give my family more focus and time when they need it while my businesses keep running in the background.
Maintenance Mode
When you’re in maintenance mode, the goal is to keep up on your minimum streamlined systems of creative output. That just means that you’re doing the things you’ve committed to do regularly.
It might be client work, publishing weekly podcasts or emails, responding to emails, or sharing valuable content on Instagram.
Ideally, you’ll have a set of systems or processes in place that help you do these regular tasks without drama, procrastination, or wasting time.
It’s important to have it streamlined enough so that you know how many hours per week are required for you to complete this type of work and when you fit it in regularly.
Have you ever started a little side business or passion project full of enthusiasm for how often you’ll publish content and then fizzled out when life got in the way?
Setting up a system for Maintenance Mode helps you plan for those times and keep the business going even while you step away for a bit of time.
For example…
At The Progress Project, Maintenance Mode mostly involves batch-recording our weekly podcast episodes and promoting them with value-based emails to serve our list.
We record all the episodes for a month during one week, then schedule them for release throughout the month. That way, we can work on other projects during the other three weeks (or focus on family).
I know working this way will require about 6 hours of recording + 6-8 hours of editing each month. Knowing that, I can choose whether to spend an entire week of my work hours getting it done, or divide it up between 2-3 hours each week. I also know how many hours that leaves remaining for my other projects.
If one of us is sick, moving, having a baby, on a long vacation, or dealing with any unexpected life drama, we know we can easily keep up with or get ahead on our streamlined systems to do these two main things: publish and promote.
This allows us to keep up our most important tasks with ease and keep growing the business (even when we’re not actively working).
Implementation Mode
Now let’s talk about Implementation Mode. This is when you have bursts of creative inspiration or time carved out for the execution of new ideas.
That might look like:
Creating a new marketing strategy
Creating or launching a product
Trying a new type of content
Streamlining a system that’s a bit clunky
Creating a new product
Any other project that has a start and finish
Implementation Mode solves for the problems that come when we try to keep up on the tasks in Maintenance Mode, execute new ideas, AND deal with family and life drama that inevitably arises. We can’t do all three at once — something has to give!
So the idea is that you are clear about what tasks are involved in Maintenance Mode and have a system for keeping up on those with ease.
THEN you plan strategically for times when you know you’ll have the capacity to enter Implementation Mode. You’ll have a new project in mind and be able to bring that project to life from start to finish, without sacrificing the tasks in Maintenance Mode.
Here’s how that looks at The Progress Project
We usually do four marketing promotions per year which require us to be in Implementation Mode for a few weeks in order to sell a product.
During that time, we’re writing sales emails, creating promotional graphics, and sharing and publishing more regularly. We try to plan ahead so the weekly episodes are recorded, edited, and ready to go so we can fully focus on the promotion. We schedule the promotion at a time when we won’t be on vacation or busy with things at home.
As another example, we recently transitioned from one email service provider to another, another project that required us being in Implementation Mode. It was a big project that required a lot of additional time, mental energy, learning, experimenting, and systemization. But now that it’s done, we can shift back into Maintenance Mode.
If I’m not careful, I can stay in Implementation Mode too much and burn out. Or I might overlap implementing one project with another project and feel overwhelmed.
But when you give it a name (“NOW I am in Implementation Mode for this project”) and strategically decide ahead of time when you’ll execute a project, it’s so much easier to stay balanced!
More examples of how these modes of operation work in real life
• When you intentionally keep your business in Maintenance Mode while your kids are at home for summer break and decide to press pause on executing any new projects until they go back to school.
• When you get excited about a new thing you want to learn how to make or a skill to learn so you dive into Implementation Mode when you know you have the capacity and time available right now.
• When you decide to have another baby and work ahead as much as you can on Maintenance Mode tasks so you can enjoy a nice, long maternity leave with nothing on the to do list.
• When you want to grow your business to the next level so you enter Implementation Mode in order to experiment with a new marketing strategy of pitching yourself to be on other podcasts.
• When you decide you want to write a book this year so you choose to avoid starting other projects or saying yes to other opportunities while you work on this one thing in a longer version of Implementation Mode.
• When a family member unexpectedly gets sick and you’re able to convert into Maintenance Mode so you can be there for them and whatever they need.
• When you get a great business idea so you put the first business into Maintenance Mode for a couple months while you implement and execute the new business idea. You create systems so that it too can run in Maintenance Mode!
What mode are you in right now?
It may not always be as clear-cut as being in one mode or the other and you might still find yourself in Implementation Mode for too many projects at the wrong time.
But thinking of dividing your creative work in this way helps you identify which mode you need to aim for in which seasons. Then you always have flexibility to choose what to focus on and intentionally choose it without guilt.