When “just starting” seems like a daunting task even in itself.
So this post is just as much for me as I think it is for all of you. If you read this blog post recently then you know I’ve taken on some pretty big projects. One of which I have never done before. I’m at the place where I have a million ideas swimming around in my head and I’m ready to start, but I just don’t know where. So here’s how I would tackle a really big project.
- Make lists, and lots of them. What supplies do you need? When are some solid deadlines for the project? what does the finished product look like? Once you have those, write down all the bigger items you have to get done to complete the big project (objectives). After that list, make more lists about sub-items that fall under the bigger items (tasks). Make a list for everything. Putting it all down on paper may not help with the overwhelming feelings, but it will help you to see exactly what needs to get done.
- Assemble a team if this project requires one. Take that list you made about all the jobs required for the project and figure out who will do best in which roll. Maybe you need to hire someone. Get started on this now so you won’t get held up waiting for someone to get up to speed on any progress made in the future.
- Take your lists and find tasks you can delegate. There are always things that you can give to someone else to do while you work on bigger picture items.
- Give yourself deadlines and checkpoints along the way based on the objectives list. Depending on your timetable, so things may need to be done before others. Put these deadlines down in your planner, and work back from them a week. Write down a primary deadline a week before it actually needs to be done so you aren’t rushing to finish things up. Write down deadlines for all the bigger chunks of the project.
- Set yourself goals for success. When do you know that you’ve been successful on this project? Do you have to sell a certain number of things? Try to find a measurable goal to help you determine when you’ve done it.
- Now start. To me it’s more than “just starting.” It’s setting yourself up so you can start on the right foot with the right mindset in place.
What do you do to get started on a really big project?
