Five Simple Steps to Life Mastery
Why project management is crucial to holistic productivity
Welcome to All the Tasks Fit to Print, my newsletter on all issues productivity-related for authors (and other solopreneurs)! Watch for my new book, Holistic Productivity: Essays on a New Vision for a Well Balanced Life!
The inspiration for the concept of holistic productivity originated in a book I wrote, Rise to the Task, based on conversations with my friend
over coffee and frustration.We are both authors and small business owners, and we were overwhelmed by the trials of trying to stay on top of all of our projects. As a former project manager, I knew there was a better way to organize what we were doing, but most planners on the market fell short of what we really needed.
Half the systems we found tried to create that elusive “work/life balance” (as if work isn't a part of living?). The other half focused on the productivity grind of hustle culture (do more! Do it all! Do it all now!!!!). Almost all of them centered their approach to productivity around the calendar, which for most project managers is only brought into the mix later in planning after you know what actually needs to be done.
However, the core problem is that our work, as writers and entrepreneurs, is too integrated into every aspect of our lives to cleanly isolate it from things like walking the dog and chores and family vacations. We needed a more holistic approach.
I realized that most people don't understand what project management really is, and believed that it was only useful for work projects, specifically. I knew that the five simple steps of project management can be applied to every aspect of life to better integrate all of our goals and commitments in a more holistic way.
Why should you care about project management?
The reason you get burnt out on so many different planners, to-do apps, and project management software is because they are not designed for everything you need to do. They are, more often than not, over-engineered. Yet, project management is a simple approach to task accomplishment. Sure, it can get very complicated, but contrary to what you’ve been led to believe, project management is a system that is so, so simple that I can sum it up for you right now, right here in five simple steps:
Initiation/Conception
Planning
Launch (Execution)
Monitoring (Control)
Completion (Closure)
REALLY! THAT’S IT!
The reason such a simple paradigm works so well for so many different kinds of projects across so many different kinds of industries is because the simplicity makes it FLEXIBLE. Projects in commercial building construction are very different from projects in software development. Each industry has its own standards, protocols, and requirements.
But the five steps of project management gives you the basic tools to manage all your projects across all your goals in ways that drive everything in the direction it needs to go!
Yet, there are all those online apps and to-do lists and expensive paper planners filled with complicated set ups that require as much time organizing and updating as it does to do the things you are trying to manage. It becomes a game of chasing your tail and thinking that the problem is not the tools you are using, but you.
I promise that you are not the problem.
5 steps, 1 million routes
I tell clients all the time that if the tool isn’t working for you, find the one that does. Do you like using post-it notes stuck to a wall kanban-style? Fine! Do you love spreadsheets or databases? Okay! Do you rely on the Yellow Legal Pad of Getting Things Done™? Great! Or maybe you really do love a specific to-do app? That’s fine too.
But the bigger problem with all of these tools is usually that you do not have a wide focus view of everything you have going on and how all those elements fit together.
The bigger solution is to incorporate the basic steps of project management first.
Applying project management holistically, across your work, hobbies, relationships, and goals is an idea I came up with a long time ago when I was working 1:1 with colleagues and clients. They were mostly solopreneurs who were all juggling a lot of different things. They knew they needed to organize their businesses, but every system they tried was too overwhelming and took too much time and energy to maintain.
I’m sure you’ve been through the same thing: You see all the alluring ads out there for Monday, Asana, Trello, MS Project, etcetera and wonder how they can help you. You sign up, play around with it for a bit, then go back to your simple calendar and task-lists because it feels like all those big programs took something simple and made it complicated.
Spoiler: THEY DID.
Most of those services are using a big basket approach to project management, but originally (and to this day) the secret to successful project management is in knowing your industry and, just as importantly, knowing how you work.
The popular tools you see out there have tried to distill everything down into categories and sections and timelines, trying to be all things to all people. Often, they are designed to be used by multiple people in teams of 5 to 500. That is great for those who need that kind of big basket approach, for these programs fail solopreneurs across a number of factors:
They assume you are running one, maybe two projects;
They seem to think that someone, likely you, has the time to be the full-time project manager for your life;
They fail to allow for the fact that personal life issues and projects can directly affect business projects;
They are built around calendars and timelines, assuming that other people can pick up the slack for you when your family member gets sick or you want to take a vacation.
The Holistic Approach
Project management is a method which doesn’t try to tie you down to one tool or service. It’s a “meta tool” that gives you the tools to arrange everything you need to do in ways that fit your brain, lifestyle, and schedule. It is easy for one person to maintain for themselves, without spending several (or many) hours every week sorting out task lists, calendars, and priorities while leaving important elements of your personal life "on hold."
When I developed the Personal Projects Management method that I outline in Rise to the Task, I meant for it to be applied to all aspects of life. It might sound at first as if project management is directly opposed to the ideal of holistic productivity, but I argue instead that it is a critical component because it is flexible, adaptable, and customizable. Try it out!
Watch for my new book!
