Do you bother trying to get job application timelines to align?

Hi all,

I'm about to start a new job search, but I know from past experience that application times for different roles can be vastly different. Ideally I'd like to be able to weigh up any offers I get, directly against each other.

Obviously there's no guarantee of getting any job, but I was just wondering as a general rule, if you make it through the initial stage of an application, do you:

a) Try and "delay" or engineer (i.e. scheduling later interviews where possible) your applications so you receive the final decision at roughly the same time?

b) Just go through the application process as normal (not taking the risk of stretching out the process as you may disadvantage yourself in actually getting the job).

I feel like option b) is the more sensible choice (i.e. better to get the bird in hand) but curious as to what others do. I'd like to avoid the scenario of getting a job offer and either trying to delay the acceptance for as long as possible or taking the offer and then rescinding later - ultimately I'd do this if I had to, but wondering if option a) is a way of mitigating the chance of this happening.

Thanks for any advice or insight! :)