Acknowledging the Unknowns

How do you manage a project with a variable goal?

Welcome to “All the Tasks Fit to Print,” my weekly newsletter on all issues productivity-related for authors and other solopreneurs!

---

Sometimes a project is less a solid plan to a clear-cut destination and more along the lines of "wishful thinking."

Traditional project management/time management systems explain that this is a set up to fail, and generally, I agree. But there are projects where the end goal is a shifting target, and that's okay.

A common example of this is the desire to become parent. Usually, parents don't know anything about the child they are getting, other than that it will be a tiny human. Everything else is up for grabs! Sure, they might set up that child's college fund and move to a location with great schools, but the course of that child's life is not fully determined by those decisions. Parents can guide and cajole but there is no guaranteed way to foresee their child's personality, interests, health, or aptitudes. Parenthood is a long-term project with absolutely no certainty of a specific outcome other than “some kind of adult human.”

Despite that, parenthood never stops being a multi-faceted, ever evolving project requiring planning, time, energy, and a big ol' dash of optimism.

Uncertain, variable goals are a fact of life. We all have them even if we maintain we know where we are going and what we doing. It might seem odd to talk about that on a "personal productivity" blog but then, I'm not here to give you simple hacks. I'm here to teach you how to use project management principles to successfully manage your time, your energy, and even your goals in a way that is productive and not soul-destroying.

I am currently in the midst of a task called "packing up my house" which is part of a very complex project (not as complex as parenthood, admittedly): moving. I'm not moving (yet), but moving is the plan and having done too many last-minute-pack-and-move events, I really don't ever want to do that again. So, I'm packing, despite the end goal being, as they say, a bit waffley. I plan to move! …just, the where and when has not been revealed to me as yet.

Because of that, I'm packing for any kind of move that might end up happening: in-town, out of town, or long-haul across the country. Meemaw's circa-1930s calculator weighs 15 pounds but I can't just toss it onto the car seat in an open bankers box the way I did last time. It needs to be wrapped and padded and secured in a structurally sound box, ready for any eventuality.

More importantly, though, I know that what I pack today might not get unpacked tomorrow — or next week, or next year, or even this decade.

I have a bunch of boxes in one closet that were packed in 1996, the year my father died and I had to move out of my parents' house because I could not afford to inherit it. Those boxes represent the last of what I was able to salvage, but doing so condemned a lot of things to indefinite storage because I very literally had nowhere to take them other than a storage unit. My sophisticated plan was, "once I get back on my feet, I'll have a house and furniture and I can unpack Meemaw's china tea set for display."

That was my version of optimism when I was newly orphaned at 26.

I never got that house or that furniture. I got years of PTSD and instability instead, but I held on to those boxes.

I bet a lot of you also have boxes in your garage (or storage unit!) that have been there for years, waiting for the perfect time to be unpacked.

I'm also sure that a lot of people will tell us both: if you have not looked inside those boxes for years, it's time to get rid of them.

I disagree.

No one thinks hoarding is a great idea, but on the other hand, sometimes things are more than just random objects in a box. I have weeded my inheritance to the point that it fits in two regular sized closets, along with five pieces of furniture. To get rid of all that just for the sake of decluttering would be to throw away the last of my youthful hope for better. It would be binning what remains of my parents' legacy for the sake of a few square feet of space.

I am pretty sure Marie Kondo is on my side in this debate: the precious flotsam of my youth brings me joy, even if I have not seen most of it for years.

Which brings me back around to my current task of packing.

I started with what's left of my library, which is only about 400 books and comics all told. It's a fraction of what I started culling in my parents' house, and honestly barely 100 books are left from that era anyway. I am carefully wrapping each book and cataloging the totes they are in using the packing app ToteScan, because I know that I don't know when they will get unpacked. Will they be in those totes for a year, or a dozen?

I am packing with a purpose, because it is an important part of the "move out of this hovel" project. But since project management allows for flexibility I can look at all the outcomes and prepare for them: move locally, or long distance? Put all the boxes in storage, in a garage, or a in a living room? Doesn't matter: I've planned for that.

Are there any similar projects you are not managing because you can't quite figure out what the end result will be? Are you just letting them ride and hoping for the best, under the belief that without a picture-perfect goal in mind there is no point in trying to organize, plan, and supervise?

Yes, it is always better to have a concrete goal to aim for, in life as in project management. However, if all you have is a clear idea of the process (parenthood, moving, going to college) with only a vague idea of the specific destination/result then you absolutely must invest time into managing that project!

A good place to start is to simply write out the steps you need to take. In my case, a primary step in moving is to pack up my house in preparation for a move. If you plan to be a parent, the first step is to somehow acquire a kid (legally!!!!). The first step in getting any college degree is deciding on where you want to go, or if you know that already, submitting an application.

Acknowledging the unknowns and allowing for flexibility are the most powerful benefits of project management.

What if I get a great opportunity to move house next month? I'll be ready for it, even though it is way (wayyyyy) ahead of my projected timeline. I can roll with the changes and take advantage of opportunities because I've planned that flex into the project.

Give yourself, and your project, room to breathe and room to settle. After all, my goal still remains to have a house where I can unpack all my treasures and have them around me, like my parents intended all along.

---

As “The Task Mistress,” I am a productivity coach for authors and solopreneurs. Using my background as a project manager and all-round productivity nerd, I help people find holistic productivity so they can achieve all their goals, both personal and professional.