It's typical to overestimate what you can accomplish in a
day, and then underestimate what you can accomplish in a
year.
Effective scheduling demands knowing how long a task
takes.
But, it's impossible to be precise if you've never done it
before. So start with a guesstimate. And then, keep track of
how long the work takes so you can plan more effectively in
the future.
Revise your schedule as you become more accurate in
estimating time.
Highlight the dependent projects on your to-do list: the ones
that can't be started until a previous task is finished. Line
them up so they flow into a sequence, noting how long each
step will take.
Schedule backwards from your deadline, being sure to give
yourself wiggle room for unforeseen circumstances. If you
know the last step will only take three days, give it another
day or so. Build in reporting dates and benchmarks.
Ask yourself: where do you need to be 30 days out from
deadline? 60 days out?
Fill in the slow times with anytime projects, those that are
independent of the rest of the tasks but still need to be
done.
Continue working backwards, including dependent
tasks and the anytime projects, until the schedule is filled in.
At this point it may be time to panic. You'll realize you should
have started three months ago last Tuesday to finish by your
deadline.
Welcome to the world of too much to do, too little time. The
hard question to ask is what can go?
At this point, most consultants advise: you can have it
cheap, you can have it great, you can have it fast. Choose
two.
Do a quick assessment to decide what you can let slip,
cost, quality, or time. Make the adjustments and get to work!
Pat Wiklund is known as the One-Person Business
Turnaround Specialist. She works with professional
services
business owners so they can make more money and get
more personal satisfaction from their work. Start taking
charge of your business and your life with her TakingCharge
mini ecourse from her latest book, Taking Charge When
You're Not in Control by sending a blank email to tcnic@1PersonBusiness.com
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