How to Make a Big Project Manageable
Ever get overwhelmed by a new project? It’s completely natural to feel that way! Every single person experiences this multiple times in their life regardless of how much experience they have. Even I must constantly remind myself that the approach to every project is always the same—think of the whole thing and then break it down.
Maybe you’ve heard this one before, but there is a saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. Cutting a project into bite-sized, easily digestible pieces, will make the work easier to conceptualize and provide motivation to start the project. This simple concept is truly the cornerstone of all project-based work.
If you’re struggling with how to get started, try this exercise:
Think of your project and list all the parts you know need to be done on a piece of paper.
Choose one of those parts from your list and write it at the top of a new piece of paper.
Now, break down all the components that you can think of that need to be done for that one part. Ideally, you’ll want to continue to break down the pieces of work until you have parts that can be completed in one sitting.
Repeat this process for all items on your first list.
Choose one of the bite-size pieces of work and get to chewing!
It is possible that you may not know all the parts needed for your project to be complete. That is okay! You don’t need to know 100% of the project’s components at the start, you just need enough to get started. As you work through the parts you’re aware of, you’ll gain more information through your experience working on the project to understand what is missing. You may want to shoot for outlining 80% of the project with the knowledge that the remaining 20% will be figured out along the way.
If you still need help breaking things down, click here to set up a free project coaching consultation.