Time and Project Management for One

Over the years I've tried various methods to keep my productivity on track. From diaries, to monthly planners to just making lists of things I need to do. What they all have in common is that they all, invariably, fail me... or perhaps, more correctly, I fail them.

I'm not talking about time management and productivity on paid work. The one thing that I'm very consistent about, no matter what, is that paid work takes precedent over all other projects, and should be done in a timely fashion, ensuring I meet any client deadlines.

However, as the only person who works on my personal, creative projects, I'm often overwhelmed by the number of projects I start. Many never make it to completion or, in the case of ongoing tasks like writing for my three blogs, it can be weeks before I 'get around' to writing a new article.

Invariably I end up with a big list of projects and tasks, some of which I work on, and others that never seem to get a look in but, I'll get around to them... some day. Ultimately I end up doing what most people do, slack off, procrastinate or just be plain lazy and not work on anything. That's what happens when you have a big list of stuff to do and nothing you can be bothered to start.

Diaries are good for planning dates, meetings and marking birthdays etc. but they're not much of a time or productivity management tool when you're working on something that doesn't really have a deadline (and you don't want to add the pressure of having a deadline).

Monthly planners have kind of worked for me but it doesn't take much to throw them out of whack. I find my life becomes too planned with them. Then, if some paid work comes in, it throws the whole schedule out and I find it very hard to get back on track.

Making lists also works for a while but inevitably I get out of the habit of list making very quickly. Lists are very fleeting things that you don't need all the time because you don't need to make a list for only one or two items that you want to get done in a day.

To solve my problem I spent quite a bit of time researching free online project management tools. Out of the ones I found, I finally settled on Freedcamp - Free Project Management. I chose it because it was free (if I can find what I need for free then I'll always go for that first), it was online (so I can be on any device to view my projects) and because it looked like it wasn't going to be too hard to use.

The trouble is, project management tools rely heavily on projects having start and end dates. They also seem to be more appropriate for teams rather than single person projects. Especially not personal projects. I don't need to log hours and fill in time sheets for my projects. I don't need to set deadlines either. These are things I'm doing for my own personal interest. There's no executive, sitting in an office somewhere, angry because I'm still painting a picture or making an animation that I initiated for myself.

After realizing that project management software wasn't really what I needed I thought maybe a weekly planner is what I needed. So I started searching for free online Weekly Planners. I found two that I liked. Weekly Planner - Weekplan and TeuxDeux: Minimalist Web-Based To-Do List Tool.

Both are very good for people who like the idea of making lists (and crossing off tasks as they're done) but want to make lists for as many days into the future as they need - rather than just for the day they are about to embark upon. Both also allow you to make a list of tasks you want to begin 'Someday' - so you can keep them in mind and slot them into your daily lists as space opens up.

Weekly Planner has an extra section (or list) for Roles (and Goals within those roles). For example you might have goals that you want to achieve in your personal life (e.g. spend 1 hour a day with kids), then you might have goals that you want to achieve as a creative person (e.g. write 10 pages of my book per day/week etc.)

The good thing about the layout of both is that each are simple and ideal for individual time/project management, where the goal is to complete tasks. They also allow you to mark in deadlines, meeting dates and more if you want to because you can plan ahead and write those things into your daily lists as needed.

Of the two I've been using Weekly Planner (into my second week of using it at the time of writing this). Weekly planner was inspired by the book "Seven Habits of Highly-Effective People" by S. Covey. It has extra sections for keeping track of your vision, mission statement and achievements. However I mostly prefer it for the Roles and Goals list which I use to keep track of my ongoing tasks from week to week.

Weekly Planner also has a 'Growth Journal' - if you're into that sort of self assessment. In it you list what you've learned about your productivity and list what you could do better. Could be useful I suppose.

The use of Weekly Planner made me more productive last week. I've written one article for all my blogs, applied for a job on oDesk on every day of last week, completed a painting and completed a GoAnimation.

This week I spent ten minutes planning my week, first thing Monday morning, and I'm off to a good start with this article. 

I think what I like is the flexibility of the weekly plan. I just list the things I want to get done this week and then try to stick to the schedule. My life isn't planned right down to the minute or a month in advance.

If you've read through this article and can relate to my situation then maybe one of these weekly planning sites is something you should look into as well. It's early days for me but I'm hoping this is something I can really incorporate into the way I get things done.