Q. My job requires me to solve several problems—some fairly quickly and others that can take several months. I’m getting overwhelmed with having to handle so many at the same time. How can I get a better hold on this? Vernon H.

A. What works for me is good planning and time management—and sticking to the plan. Estimating the amount of time it will take you to solve each problem. Think through the entire project, and break it down into smaller jobs you can handle more easily. Then get yourself a month-at-a-glance planning calendar and block out time each week to work on these smaller pieces of the problem. If you think it’ll take about 40 hours to do the whole job, and you have a two-month deadline, you’ll have to spend at least five hours a week on this project or you’ll never finish on time. You may have to budget more time in the early weeks to get several things going at once. Focus on actions with the most payoff. Talk with others and re-define the task, if necessary.

Control Interruptions

Phone and walk-in interruptions can stop you from getting the work done. Unless it’s a crisis, when someone interrupts your work, set a time when you can meet that won’t take you away from the problem you’re focusing on. If it’s your boss who interrupts, it can sometimes help to show your written plan/calendar for resolving the problem—and help him or her confirm or change your priorities.

Choose the Right Time

Work on your toughest problems when you’re at your best so you’ll be alert and do your most productive work. Trying to squeeze in time on a tough task after a heavy lunch, or at the end of the day, isn’t a good idea. And start each phase of the project with something easy—as you would an exercise warm-up— so you won’t get discouraged or feel overwhelmed with the task.

Set deadlines for intermediate progress points. Working for one or two hours at a time to meet 15 or 20 intermediate deadlines, spread out over two months, is a lot easier than trying to squeeze in 10 hours to meet a larger deadline. And while you’re planning short blocks of time, build in variety, and switch from one task to another. You might study a complicated report intensely for 20 or 30 minutes, then make some phone calls or write a memo. Then get back to the report for another 20 or 30 minutes. With today’s fast pace, it’s unlikely you’ll get three- or four-hour blocks of uninterrupted time to work on a program, so adjust your day accordingly.

Avoid the Activity Trap

Focus on results, not actions. Some people get caught up in doing a lot of C-level “stuff”—opening the mail, sorting files, cleaning the coffee machine—anything to avoid a tough or unpleasant A-level task. Remember the Pareto 80/20 rule: 20 percent of your activities produce 80 percent of your results. It’s the other 80 percent of what we do that produces only 20 percent of the results and robs us of time to get important things done.

Limit the number of major projects. You can’t do everything, and only you know how many projects you can handle at any one time and still do them well, and on time. For every major problem, go back to the planning calendar and block off time in the next several weeks. (It helps if you use a separate color pen for each job.) You may be surprised to see that the five projects you now have will take at least 70 percent of all your available time in the next three months. If this is the case, you really shouldn’t take on any more, unless you plan to work nights and weekends, cut back on your vacation, and jeopardize relationships.

Get Others Involved

Check to see if others have worked on this problem, or have information you need. Sometimes you can partner with someone to help work on your problem in return for your working on theirs. Talk to others to see if you can discover several ways to solve the problem—not just the first solution that came to mind. Often people farthest from the problem can come up with simple, effective solutions you haven’t thought of.

Finally, follow-up and check your progress on each problem as often as you need to stay on top of it. Record your progress each week so you’ll have a paper trail and an easy way to prepare progress reports. And run a process check every week by asking yourself “How effective are my results?” You may need to change your approach.