One easy way to make your day more productive

To plan or not to plan.... that is the question.....

While doing some research on project management for one of my classes it occurred to me that project management is not just for business purposes but that it can be and should be applied to our personal lives. In fact we routinely ‘project manage’ aspects of our lives. Some persons just do a better job at it than others.

Most of us live lives that are hectic, filled with responsibilities such as family responsibilities, work obligations, social and personal commitments and other duties yet there are some people who seem to handle the myriad of issues that life throws at them amazingly well. Could there be some form of ‘project management’ at work?

Activities in our lives can be broken down into small projects to make them easier to manage and to enable the best chance for successful completion with minimum stress (Remember the 80/20 rule).

In addition, take the following example

Baking a cake with children

Initiation – Hmm perhaps the firm decision to bake this cake with the children

Planning – Schedule a day and a block of time to bake the cake. If you want to start at 9am, start at 9am to prevent stress later especially if you or the children have later commitments. Develop a lists of tasks and ensure you have your list of ingredients, recipe etc. All cake bakers must also agree to a goal (e.g. bake a chocolate cake)

Executing – Buy your ingredients, assemble your ingredients and start to bake the cake. Ensure everyone knows and agrees to their tasks.

Monitoring and Controlling – Observe the children’s actions, keep track of time etc

Closing – The project is complete when the beautiful chocolate cake comes out of the oven. YUMMY!

So take a look at your TO DO LIST and take note of which activities are really mini projects and treat them as such. I really hope you keep a TO DO LIST on your phone, computer or even in a note book. If not start one today and you will see a big difference in what you are able to accomplish daily if you break activities into small projects. I recommend Stephen Covey’s version of a ‘TO DO LIST’ or Time Management matrix on this blog

http://sidsavara.com/personal-development/nerdy-productivity-coveys-time-management-matrix-illustrated-with-xkcd-comics on this blog.

While ‘project managing’ your life or applying the 80/20 rule may seem a bit technical, it really isn’t. A reader of this blog applied the 80/20 rule with great results. So, Say Yes to applying these techniques today! It’s about leading, planning, organising and controlling life’s sometimes ‘pesky’ activities so that they don’t end up controlling you.

What do you think about the concept of project managing your life? Drop me a comment below and share your thoughts. Have a fabulous and productive day, today!