In this post I will be talking about one of my New Year's resolutions... Project Management. Do you ever have all these awesome ideas to fix up your house or make an awesome craft you saw on Pinterest but find it hard to schedule it all in and life just gets in the way? My biggest problem was getting super excited and starting all these different projects then getting overwhelmed because I took on too much too quickly and so abandoned them all vowing to pick it up again 'one day'...
Well this is my solution to my project abandonment issues - my Filofax Project Management System. Before I categorise everything (because that is what perfectionist me likes to do - attempt to create order), I use a 'brain dump' system. I love that name because I literately dump everything from my brain relating to projects I want to do onto the paper in any order. This brain dump is my 'Master To-Do List' and I just write it on the standard Filofax 'To Do' paper.
Once I have done this I can glance through it and work out what projects I want to be done sooner and what projects I can postpone until later in the year and I break it all down into monthly tasks. This format gets it all clear in my mind and helps me to prepare and break everything into manageable pieces.
Link to: 2014 Projects Template
* REMEMBER: This is a working document, meaning none of these timelines need to be set in concrete. This Project Management System is to help you do just that - manage projects. You most likely will need to alter the timeline as things pop up in your life. Don't let this stress you out or add pressure to your life, just simply move it to the next month. :-)
Once I have done this I then take 2-3 of the current month projects (no more than that or you will overwhelm yourself!!) and create tabbed sections for those projects in the next section of the Filofax. Here the task is 'nutted out' and broken up into mini to-dos and weekly tasks (if applicable).
Below is an example of some of my projects. The tabs marked ML V (mummylifestyle vlog), OL V (organisedlifestyle vlog) and OL B (organised lifestyle blog) are permanent tabs which house my You Tube and Blog pages and are separate from the regular projects. I included these just to show you if you were interested :-)
Once each 'mini project' is complete you can tick off the boxes (my guilty pleasure!) until they are all complete and the project is done. I then remove the project and house it in a separate folder for reference. (I have a Kikki-K A5 planner headed my way in the post and will house past projects in there when I'm done).
So, that's how I do it. For more detailed projects (like preparation for Christmas etc.) I add a few more steps. Once my new (to me) planner arrives I will post a detailed blog about how I planned for Christmas Day and all the preparation that came before it.
Just remember, projects are suppose to be fun NOT stressful. Don't try and tackle everything at once. Lay it all out, break it up into manageable pieces and give yourself realistic timelines to complete in order to succeed.
GOOD LUCK and have an amazing week!!
Jen
I think that ticking off boxes is one of the common traits of people who love using planners :) Good to know that I'm not alone...
ReplyDeleteGreat plan for handling your project management. Thanks for sharing this!