I have so many projects going that, if you saw the wall in my office, you’d just say whoa.

Books. Songs. Movie and TV stuff. A software company start-up. All moving forward into finished or pitchable states. Most of these I’m working on with others, such as song collaborators and business partners.

I once had a man tell me I should finish something before I started something else. I was incredulous. I told him if I did as he advised, nothing would ever get done. He was very used to starting a project and finishing it, then being assigned another by a boss.

He didn’t understand that his boss was just like me. He thought of projects, worked on them, then sent them out to others so they could do their part. If he didn’t have a boss like that, then he wouldn’t have a job.

I think of my projects as an army with a very wide front. Soldiers leading the way. Support following. You might have to ride a horse at full gallop for a while to get from one end to the other to check on them, but each soldier is marching steadily forward, and they will be ready for the battle when they reach the field.

But to do that efficiencies must be in place. One of those efficiencies I employ is this: If I bat it to you, you bat it back pretty quick like. Don’t twiddle your thumbs. Don’t sit on your hands. Don’t whine about how busy you are. Don’t ignore deadlines. Don’t invest in failure.

Swat the shuttlecock back.

Easy.