Tackling Projects

Summer time season can be tricky if we aren't paying attention. With each spring comes the excitement and anticipation of summer. For me, summer can never get here fast enough. However, as soon as I blink the month of June is ending and we are staring 4th of July right in the face. In a panic, I check the calendar to see that we only have 6 weeks before the kids head back to school. Summer tricks us into thinking we can kick back, relax, enjoy bike rides and family gatherings. So, why does the time go by so fast? I think one of the reasons is that we try and pack too much into too little time. Whether its the yard projects, family vacations, or we take on more projects at work because we think things will slow down for us. 

For a couple of years I have been able to stay on top of my projects (albeit more so at work than home) through a very simple process. It can be a little overwhelming when we take on projects both at work and home, and even more daunting when we have several projects going on at the same time. This is a nightmare for those who cannot easily multi-task. In some situations we are able to complete one project before working on the next, but that is a rarity. Most of the time we are trying to work on several projects at the same time. Currently I have 19 projects at work that I am currently working on or will soon begin to work on them. This is on the low side of what I usually am doing. 

A project is actually nothing more than a series of tasks. For example, renewing my Passport was a project. While it wasn't as large as landscaping my yard, it did take more than two steps to finish. It also took much longer than I anticipated. It sounded so simple that I did not even follow my own rules. I just began working towards renewing my passport. Now that it is done, or at least I got it sent it in, I went back and wrote down each action step it took for me to complete the project. Here is what I did:

1. Pick up a Passport Renewal form at the Post Office (Errands)
2. Fill out the application. (Office)
3. Order new checks so that I can pay the renewal fee. (Computer)
4. Wait for checks to arrive. (Waiting)
5. Take the form and a check to the Post Office. (Errands)
6. Wait for my new passport to come in the mail. (Waiting)

The entire process took about 2.5 weeks as I had to take the time to fill out the form and wait for my new checks to arrive. That was much longer, and a little more complicated than what I anticipated. Had I written the list out before I started I could have prioritized some things to make sure it happened much sooner. (You cannot travel outside the country when your passport is within 6 months of expiring.) The parentheses is the category that each action step fell under in my "To-Do" list. I will share more about that in another post. For right now I want to encourage you to breakdown your project into manageable action steps by writing down everything you will need accomplish in order to complete your project. 

When you begin to think about your projects in terms of little steps you will see a few things begin to happen:

1. Your projects will not overwhelm you or own you! When we write everything down that needs to happen it will help to ease your mind. If we try and keep all of the steps in our head, or we don't think through the steps, the "project" will consume us. Steps will be forgotten or messed up and in the end the project will either take too long or it will not go as planned. 
2. You will have more time to enjoy your summer. When you list all the steps it will help you to see how much work it will take to complete the project and how much time you will need to set aside for it. I had no idea that it would take so long to renew my passport. 

In my next post I will share with you some resources I use to help me categorize my Action Steps. If you want to get a head start or want more information on this topic then I highly recommend David Allen's book, "Getting Things Done." It is a life saver!