Organize A Project With Five Easy Steps

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

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I’m not going to try to guess what type of project you’re wrestling with. Do you have more than one? You probably do. Today, I’ll talk about a way to organize—and simplify—a project that doesn’t involve managing other employees. The Group Project will be covered as another topic.

Think of 1 project you want to do. What if I said to you, “Right now, write a list of what needs to be done to perform this project beautifully?”  Would you sit in front of your computer with your fingers paralyzed, perched over the keys? If so, you may have the Perfectionist’s Dilemma—you may be expecting to see a neat, perfectly arranged document appearing on your screen. Don’t worry—in this case, you’re normal.

Wouldn’t you feel better if I directed you to type up a very rough draft of what needs to be done? And I’d promise that no one else will be able to look at it. Is the paralysis gone?  And wouldn’t all this be more doable if I gave you Five Easy Steps to follow? Good! Here are the Five Easy Steps.

1. Define the Goal – What’s the end product you want to achieve? What’s the goal date? Give yourself a little leeway by establishing an Almost Goal Date. This is the date you’ll aim for—knowing you’ll have a few extra days for polishing or basking in your early success.

2. Outline the Big Steps — Leave space below each one for step # 3. Put an End Date on each of the Big Steps.

3. Outline the Little Steps that are contained in each of the Big Steps above.

4. Keep a Running File on everything. Save information in computer files or paper files in case you’ll be doing a similar project another time, or in case you want to document your success in the workplace. Yes, you do want to do that!

5. Put the Next Step on your To-Do List each day. Refer to my tips on writing your To-Do List. Remember each one has an action included.

Those are the Five Easy Steps. Now, here’s my Business Tip of the Week.

Business Tip of the Week:

You know that Running File I mentioned as part of #4 above? Well, you can use that for 2 purposes that will benefit you in the long run. First, you may need to do this same project another time. Of course, it will be because people realized you did such a great job the first time! Think about how much easier it will be the second time. You’ll have your outline, timeline, and the necessary backup materials in your Running File for that project. Easy! Now the second reason is that you may want look forward to the day that you can give—ah, delegate—this project to someone else. That’s what leaders do! And leaders also have a responsibility to see that their delegates are organized and productive. Well, you’ve already performed a big part of your future responsibility.

Doesn’t that make you think leaders have it easy? I hope you get the opportunity to see that it’s true!

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

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Website, WomensMedia, by Dianne Schilling, How to Run a Successful Meeting: Tips from Women Leaders

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Time Management: You Can Organize Your Desk With These Easy Steps! or listen to it here.

Website, WomensMedia, by Stacey Hanke, Communicating with Impact and Influence

Consider 8 Aspects In Your Work-Life Balance

by Nancy F. Clark (Follow her on Twitter)
Named one of Forbes: Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow On Twitter

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Balancing all aspects of your life is not about running harder and faster. It’s about realizing the following:

• There’s only a limited amount of time each day when you’re awake and functioning.
• It’s not good to concentrate on only one thing, such as work–you’d be neglecting family and friends.
• Perfection is not always good, and is often a waste of time.
• And, there are a number of areas where your attention is needed.

So what are the areas I need to consider when I’m trying to balance my life? It’s a big list. Here are the 8 that are on my list: Family, Friends, Work, Health, Spirituality, Giving Back, Being Selfish, and then there’s Trajectory—which I’ll explain in a minute.

First on my list is Family. I’m a proponent of “When you’re with your family, give them your full attention.” This means no Blackberry on the beach. I know you might consider multitasking a plus, but give it another review and see if you change your mind.

Friends. Schedule get-togethers and phone calls.

Work. Do the most important things on your list each day. Don’t allow guilt over the undone tasks to consume you. Instead, delegate what you can, and then forgive yourself for not having more than 24 hours in a day.

Health. You know what you need to do: Eat better foods, don’t skip meals, exercise, take vitamins, see a doctor and a dentist on a regular schedule—see that’s a simple list. If you’re overweight, you need to change your habits and your choices.

Spirituality. This may be religion for some of you. Do you have a philosophy of life? Does life have meaning for you as part of something larger than you? Work this into your balance of life schedule.

Giving Back. This is my personal add-on: Make the world a little bit better than it would have been without you. It may be by raising a child who is good to others. It may be by tending to an unsightly median strip in your neighborhood. It may be by contributing $25 to a micro-loan program. It’s why I started the website www.WomensMedia.com with 2 friends to help working women succeed.

Being Selfish. Aha, now who could object to that? Time for yourself is a must on your list. Schedule it onto your calendar. Look forward to that time when you look over your plans for the day and the week.

Trajectory. Here’s the one I need to explain. This is similar to a New Year’s resolution for your life’s direction. You get to steer yourself toward goals for family, friends, work, spirituality, giving back, and just being selfish. My Business Tip of the Week deals with this.

And here it is.

Business Tip of the Week:

You only have to make 1 decision . . . BUT, you have to make it right now! You have to decide how often you’ll think about your trajectory—I mean, how your life is going. Once a year is not often enough, come on, you agree with that. Decide how often you want to look over those 8 aspects of your life to see if you’re staying on the road you’ve envisioned for yourself. Sometimes unexpected situations or opportunities occur which alert you to the need to redirect your “drive.”  I’ve made my decision. I’ve decided that when I see it’s the first day of a month, I’ll pull out my list and quietly look over each aspect and see if I’m falling behind in one, or if my overall direction needs a correction. This shouldn’t make me feel bad. It should make me feel that I’m keeping up with my goal of a mini-correction on the first of every month. How about that? One more thing to feel good about!

Be sure to visit our site, www.WomensMedia.com to get Expert Advice for Working Women.

Listen to today’s podcast here.

Sign up for the WomensMedia Newsletter. We make it easy!

Website, WomensMedia, by Madeleine Holman, The Problem of Balance —Boundaries Will Help You

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, 5 Steps You Must Do Now to Manage Your To-Do List —For Time Management Keep Your Priorities In Mind or listen to it here.

Website, WomensMedia, by Debra Pestrak., How to Balance Your Career and Your Family —So Both are Rewarding and Enjoyable

Tags: work, life, balance