Project Planning
Making a plan with bite-sized steps can help you bring an idea to life. What are you working on right now and where do you want to focus? Create a plan to help you stay on track and get the support you need to make progress.
Making a plan with bite-sized steps can help you bring an idea to life. What are you working on right now and where do you want to focus? Create a plan to help you stay on track and get the support you need to make progress.
Growing skills and developing your interests takes some intentional planning. Creating a goal helps you organize what you need to do and make a plan to stay on track. Start by defining your project — what is it you want to do? You might try selecting one of these action verbs to begin your goal:
Before you get started working towards your goal, take some time to prepare. In order to accomplish your goal, you can use a few tricks to help you feel ready to move into action. Flip these cards over for some quick tips:
Think in advance the people you know who can help you out along the way — from a listener, to a cheerleader, to a brainstormer.
Remind yourself of why this matters to you with a meaningful mantra or mission statement that gets you excited to take action.
Keep the end in mind by setting a date for when you want to finish — a realistic time frame helps you know what is possible and how to plan for it.
One of the best ways to make something happen is to figure out the steps you need to take. It might help to start from what you envision success to look like then work your way backwards. Or think about one thing you need to do each day or week to reach your goal. Use the template below to guide you as you make your plan.
1. DEFINE YOUR PROJECT
What do you want to do?
2. STATE YOUR WHY
Why is this important to you? What impact do you hope to have?
3. BUILD YOUR TEAM
Who are some people in your life that can support you?
4. SET A DEADLINE
When will you get it done by?
5. BREAK IT DOWN
What are small steps you can take to get there?
Put your plan into action! Remember that our goals don’t always go according to plan. If you get stuck, try to offer yourself some compassion and focus on what you've learned from this experience. When you feel ready to try again, you might turn to a new way to stay motivated or revisit your project plan and make edits.
It seems like the projects we care about most are sometimes the ones we never get around to doing. Start your own bucket list to keep track of projects you want to start, skills you want to build, and activities you want to do. Add to it whenever you want and let it inspire you when you have some free time.
When you nail down the details of your goal, you can start to see the steps you need to take to get there. If you want to get better at writing, what specifically do you want to do — write a short story? A series of blog posts? A poem? Get really tangible with a realistic outcome and timeline.
The more things you try, the more you will learn about yourself and your interests. Next time you work on a project, skill, or activity, reflect on the experience — What do I like about this? What don’t I like about this? What do I want to know more about? This could help guide you towards more topics you enjoy.