Project Management: Break down the tasks

OK, I admit it, yesterday was a very strange day!!! I am buried in the editing of a legal manual which I have to say is hardly the most riveting of reads. And today doesn’t look to be any better….but this component of the job is almost completed and I can get back to doing all those other things that have to be put on hold whilst I finish the edit….and at 800 pages long, it’s quite a job.

But like all jobs, this one can be broken down and I can work on a single chapter/component at a time. So to some people – the thought of editing an 800 page document may seem like an impossible task. But in reality it is a series of small steps that can be completed easily. And I know I will achieve my goal of having it finished and back from production before the Christmas deadline.

Knowing what the big picture looks like before you start a task or project is vital if you don’t want to get overwhelmed. I’d almost finished this year’s editing process when the powers that be decided that they were going to remove a couple of sections. Not a problem you would think, except the document is cross-referenced manually at the moment. Because of the way the document was set up (and not by me) the subject indexes have to be re-built manually, and the removal of a couple of sections at the beginning of the text means that I am now going to have to go back and re-do some of the earlier work.

So it is with all projects, you think you are at the end, and something arrives to test you. We look at the mountain facing us and it is up to us whether or not we are willing to accept the challenge and get on with it. Accept the challenge and whinge about it, or throw in the towel and stay in the valley where we’ve set up camp. And only you can decide which attitude you will take.  Like we discussed yesterday, if you don’t know the outcome in advance, if you don’t look at the bigger picture you will come to a grinding halt. I know that with a couple more days of intense work I will get to the end of this particular problem and I will be able to move on. I know that there is no point whingeing about it, because all I am doing is making myself miserable, after all that is one of the reasons why I am paid to do the job that I do.

So when you are in the process of planning your next round of tasks, goals and projects always make sure:
. You leave a little room for contingency planning;
. Do all that you can do today, because you never know what tomorrow has got lined up for you.
. And don’t whinge if you’ve decided to accept the challenge, because it just makes a hard task harder…

Now get back to work.