Projects: Getting Started With Productivity

It’s a simple word: project. Yet it’s a loaded one. Projects are defined as anything that has more than one step to massive undertakings that need multiple people and charts that span multiple sheets of paper.

Most of us are not on that last part of the scale. And honestly, treating a simple project to the full blast of project management is overkill. Believe me, I’ve tried it. I wanted to put my project management training to the test. And what I found is that personal projects are always much simpler and require less “management” than one might think.

What Is A Project?

So let’s start by considering what is…and what isn’t…a project.

I first started thinking about projects when I read Getting Things Done*. To David Allen, a project is anything that has more than one action. But I wasn’t satisfied with that definition. My engineer brain kept saying “but what if…?”

So let’s look at some alternatives.

A project is a grouping of related items that lead to a common conclusion. If something were made of one task, it is still just a task, no matter how you dress it up. If you put two tasks together but they were unrelated (file your TPS report and walk the dog), they are still two tasks. But if the tasks work together to complete a single conclusion, they are a project. For example, “wash the dishes” and “take out the trash” could be tasks that relate to the project of “clean the kitchen.”

Projects incorporate the smaller blocks of productivity. Projects are made up of multiple tasks. But they can also include calendar events and notes. If your project was to “buy a 2017 motor scooter” it would include an appointment at the bank, an appointment at the dealer, plus tasks like “call the bank for interest rates” and “fill out the warranty paperwork”. It might even include notes and documents, like the research you did on which scooter to buy, as well as features you want to have.

Projects have distinct steps not performed quickly in sequence.

We’ll talk more about this below, but if you perform a set of actions that could be broken down into discrete steps one right after the other with no breaks, this really isn’t a project. For instance, go grocery shopping, bring groceries in the house, put the groceries away are three distinct actions that lead to “replenish groceries”, however, you wouldn’t perform the steps with breaks of time in between. Doing so would lead to spoiled food and a smelly car.

Why Do We Care About Projects?

You might be wondering why we care about projects at all. Why wouldn’t we just track the steps and leave it at that?

The reason is that projects have a bigger “done” than their counterpart. For instance with our scooter, both contacting the bank and doing research are necessary steps, both leading to “buy a 2017 motor scooter”. Leaving one out can result in the whole project failing. It isn’t enough just to do research, because that will just leave you with notes. It isn’t enough to contact the bank if you never go to the dealership and actually purchase the vehicle.

Along with the bigger completion, projects have to be tracked as a group so that you know you are making progress toward that larger goal. Failure to do so will leave out crucial steps.

How Do You Tell If It’s A Project

This is a big question, and it is always a good one if you want to stir people up on a productivity site. Leave a comment to the effect of “any action can be broken down into further sub-actions.” Then sit back. (Yes I have done this, accidentally. I still have the scorch marks.)

The fact is that what a project is depends on the things you will do to complete it…and where they will be done

Let’s change a light bulb.

But first a joke: How many programmers does it take to change a light bulb? None. They declare darkness the industry standard.

So even though I am a programmer, let’s change a light bulb.

What are the steps of changing a light bulb?
1. Get the replacement light bulb.
2. Get the ladder.
3. Unscrew the old light bulb.
4. Screw in the new light bulb.
5. Put the ladder away.
6. Dispose of the old light bulb.

In David Allen’s definition, this would be a project, because it has more than one distinct action.

However, no one would track a project like this. Or would they?

The question lies in whether or not that replacement light bulb is already in your house.

If the light bulb is already in your house (because you have stocked up), you simply fetch it and perform the rest of the actions in one swoop. It would not be a project.

However, if you had to purchase the light bulb, the whole thing turns into a project with two steps: buy the light bulb, and install the light bulb. In this second case, you would probably track it, because you need to be reminded to buy the light bulb, and then once you are home, to put it in place.

Whether or not something is a project depends on how many of the sub-actions will be performed at the same time in the same place. Multiple actions at different times and/or different places will automatically be a project.

How Do You Track Projects?

So we’ve talked about inputs and outputs. Where do projects fall into these?

A project is an input that the box adds the tasks, events and notes to, so that you can work through it as an output.

How can you track projects? That’s completely up to you. Some people use a project management system. Some use a less complex system like Trello. Some use notebook pages. I personally use tasks with sub-tasks in Remember the Milk.

Food For Thought

My task for you today is to consider how you handle projects. Do you just look at the top level and rethink what needs to be done every time you look at it? Or do you parse it out into tasks? Do you go too far with the parsing? How do you track your projects?

I think that’s enough questions to consider.