Over the last few weeks I have been trying out a Project Planner I have designed – and it can be downloaded free below. The premise was that as part of my Get Things Done (GTD) system I have a fair number of projects on the go – it has been an ongoing challenge finding the best way to capture all that needs doing to achieve the objectives of the project and to identify the Next Actions needed to get there.
I wanted something that I could keep in the front of each GTD project file that would fulfill a number of requirements:
- Be a one page summary of what needs to be done;
- Enable me to quickly identify what needs doing over the life span of the project;
- Clearly see what has been done and what remains to be done; and
- Have Next Actions front of mind.
I am pretty happy that what I have created works well – the key is that it takes no time to complete and is a great prompt for a mind dump on the project. Yes there is room in bigger more complex projects for Gantt Charts, weekly progress reports and traffic light systems, but for 90% of projects all you need is something that ties the various strands together.
The main principle at work here is that there are three tiers within a project:
- The overall Project itself;
- Sub-projects which allow you to break a Project into manageable chunks – what I call a Module; and
- The Tasks you actual go about doing.
This is hardly rocket science, but it does give you a tool to separate your tasks into their various flavours. As an example, I used the planner this year to organise our summer vacation – not a complex project, but something with a number of things that need to be done to be resolved. In this example:
Project – Organise a summer vacation
Modules – When shall we go? Where shall we go? What shall we do when we get there? etc…
Tasks – Book time off work, search Internet for location ideas, write a shopping list, etc…
I attach below a downloadable version of my holiday planning example alongside the proforma Project Planner.
I would appreciate any feedback or questions you have on this.
Download the Free Project Planner
Download the Vacation Example Project Planner
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Rich!
Just had a look at your project planner document. Looks interesting!
I’ve downloaded it and printed it out. Will give it a try over the next few days and then let you know how it worked for me!
Thanks!
Thanks Kaizan – let me know how you get on. Comment and improvements appreciated!
Rich