Breaking Work Into Manageable Tasks

So you are starting a large project but are not quite sure how to tackle it.  Maybe it’s cleaning out that old junk room or sorting through the garage.  Maybe you have finally decided on organizing and placing all of your child’s photos for the past seven years into albums {cough}.

But where do you start?  Projects like these can become overwhelming.  You need a plan and you need to break the work into manageable tasks.

The first and most important thing you need to do is to identify all the tasks required to complete the project.  This can be as simple as listing 10 things you would need to do in order to go from the start to finish.

Next you should assign a priority level to each task.  High level items are the most important and should be completed first, medium are important but are not an immediate concern, and low level tasks are not necessary, but would be nice to get completed.

After you have assigned a priority level to each task, put them in order from first to last.  If you are working on the project with family members or friends, you can also assign tasks to people.  You are bound to know that person who is perfect for a particular job.  Now is the time to take advantage of those talents.

It is also important to estimate the time required to complete each task.  Is it something that will take 30 minutes or 2 hours?  Once you know the time required, you can easily set aside time in your day or week to work on it.

Lastly, set a deadline.  Give yourself a reasonable amount of time to complete your project (plus a little extra).  It's also a good idea to set mini deadlines along the way for those high level tasks.  You'll feel a sense of accomplishment as you complete each one.

So there you have it!  I hope these steps will help you to get some of those large, previously overwhelming projects completed in no time.  Good luck!

If you haven't checked out the 2011-2012 Schoolhouse Planner you should!  There are some wonderful articles and tons of great homeschool forms!  You'll find my article (this one) on page 157.