Although I do think the 'New year new me' culture has lost a lot of its power in recent years, I still think many of us see the new year as a sort of push to start projects that were in the back of our minds for quite a while but we actually never got around to doing them. Well, that's exactly why I'm here. Today, I'll show you how you should plan out your big projects for this year. This guide can be used anytime and for any type of projects you might want to do.
Write down all your projects
Get yourself a piece of paper and a pen and write down all the projects you currently have going on as well as projects you plan on working on the next 3 months. I won't say you should write all your projects for this year because it might get too overwhelming for you, but if you think you can handle it then go ahead.
Break the project down into small steps
This is the crucial part here. I'm gonna use an example of a project from now on so it's easier for you to follow. After you wrote down your project you're going to write down all the steps and tasks you have to take to reach the end goal of your project. Let's say you want to write a book- there could be how you can break down your project into small manageable tasks:
Get yourself a piece of paper and a pen and write down all the projects you currently have going on as well as projects you plan on working on the next 3 months. I won't say you should write all your projects for this year because it might get too overwhelming for you, but if you think you can handle it then go ahead.
Break the project down into small steps
This is the crucial part here. I'm gonna use an example of a project from now on so it's easier for you to follow. After you wrote down your project you're going to write down all the steps and tasks you have to take to reach the end goal of your project. Let's say you want to write a book- there could be how you can break down your project into small manageable tasks:
- Decide on the main theme of your book
- Write down a small summary of your plot
- Start developing your characters
- Research about the setting where your story will take place
- Write 5000 words a day
Prioritize tasks
Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? Basically what it means is that 20% of your tasks will have 80% impact on your end goal which means you prioritize that tasks that will bring you closer to finishing your project successfully. Using the book project again, you'll get much closer to your goal by writing down 5000 words a day than by spending an endless amount of hours searching and designing your book cover.
The whole thought process behind prioritizing tasks should be 'what is this task gonna do for my project? is this gonna take me one step closer or can this be postponed?'
Set deadlines
Keep yourself accountable. This is so important! Think about it this way: when you were in school and you had a project to make but the teacher didn't give you a deadline: would you do it? Probably not. I know I wouldn't.
Setting deadlines for your tasks will give you the extra push to actually complete them and not just abandon the project halfway through.
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