Whether it’s website redesign, a new training program for your team, a cluttered garage, or choosing summer activities for the kids, all of these projects can look big and messy. You need a strategy to get your project done!
Let’s start with a refresher about the difference between a task and a project:
- A task is a short unit of work, usually completed in one work session. Tasks are the building blocks of projects.
- A project will require multiple work sessions to achieve the end goal. You will have to do a series of tasks to complete the project. Small projects may be completed in just two or three work sessions. Larger projects may take days, weeks, months or even years.
No matter what your project is, the first step is always the same: PLAN! One way or another, you will have to come up with a plan for your project. If you don’t make a deliberate plan, you will end up creating it simultaneously while you are trying to do the actual work. Planning and doing require two different skill sets. When you try to do both at the same time, neither gets done efficiently or effectively. It just sets you up for more overwhelm and confusion.
Planning counts
It’s common to discount planning because it may seem like you are delaying the actual work. Planning is an important piece of the work! It leads to better outcomes, in less time. Here’s why:
- It’s easier to get started, if your first step is to plan. You don’t have to dive into what still feels like messy work. You just need to devote a block of time to creating a beginning plan.
- It’s easier to get started on the action steps of your project, if you have done your planning. Planning allows you to visualize yourself doing the work and identify specific steps. There are fewer unknowns.
- You avoid inefficiencies due to lack of preparation.
- You are better prepared to manage obstacles and potential distractions.
- You will be more likely to have the right tools and resources available, to do the job the way you want.
Planning is a part of the process. You are taking action, when you are planning.
Many ways to plan
Okay, I know that planning can also feel overwhelming, so here are a few different ways to plan. Experiment and do what feels best.
- Make a mind map. Mind maps are great for those big messy projects that you just can’t even begin to think about.
- Write your project goal in the middle of a blank piece of paper, turned horizontally.
- Start writing anything that comes to mind about the different components of your project, anywhere you like on the page.
- Let your intuition guide where you write things.
- Once you’ve gotten this far, you will probably have a sense whether your mind-map is helping you. If so, you will be feeling better, with a plan starting to form. If you are feeling even more confused, then maybe this isn’t the best tool for you.
- Talk it out with someone. Many of us are verbal processors and we organize our thoughts better when we talk. We also have new insights when we hear ourselves say things. Just describing your end goal to someone else can help you identify the steps. Encourage your listener to ask you questions to keep prompting your thought process.
- Make a video or voice recording, describing your project. This can jumpstart your planning brain.
- Reverse engineer: Write down your end goal, and then write what you think your final step will be, and then write down what needs to happen to do that final step, and then keep working backwards, until you have the elements of a plan.
- Start making lists. Write down anything you can think of, related to your project.
- Survey your project. Here are a series of questions to help you figure out what needs to happen. Either write down your answers, or record yourself talking them through.
- What are you trying to accomplish? Why?
- How will you feel once this is finished?
- How significant will it be to have this done?
- What new things will be possible, once this is done?
- Who are you doing it for?
- How well does it need to be done? (Some of the best advice I ever got was that some things that need to be done, don’t need to be done well.)
- What information do you need?
- What supplies or equipment do you need?
- What are your resources?
- What are your limitations or constraints?
- What will help you to persevere?
- What obstacles should you expect?
- Make an outline. I suspect if your brain works well making outlines, you probably don’t need help to plan, but I guess we shouldn’t discount this method.
Points to remember:
- It’s not necessary to identify all the steps required to complete your project. You just need to identify the next step. If it’s not the right step, that’s okay, because you will usually realize what you should have done, and now that you know, you can do it! Everybody takes errant steps, sometimes. It’s part of the process and it doesn’t mean that you’re incapable of doing the work.
- Planning will be ongoing. It’s important to monitor your progress and make adjustments as you go.
- If you’ve tried all the different methods of planning and you’re still stuck, there are two likely possibilities:
- Your project is too big for your current resources. Scale back. Maybe instead of taking on the whole garage, start with one corner.
- You need help. Get it! Maybe a website redesign becomes looking for a website designer.
When does planning become over-planning?
I hope I’ve convinced you that planning is important. And now I will admit that there are times when we take it to the extremes and over-plan or use it as an avoidance tactic. Here are some things to consider:
- Be honest with yourself. You will know in your gut if you’re avoiding the actual work. If so, set a target date to get started, and stick to it.
- Keep it simple. Most of the time, it’s desirable to leave room for experimentation and flexibility. What’s the worst thing that could happen if you make a mistake? Building a bridge requires a much more detailed plan than trying a new cookie recipe. If you really are building a bridge, then chances are you have help and someone on your team who is good at planning!
- Keep your end goal in mind, and plans within reach. Summer camp doesn’t need to prepare your child for Harvard. You just need a fun, safe place for her to go when school is out.
What big messy project are you avoiding? I challenge you to take that first step, and make a plan.