Help! I have a project to do!

How to overcome anxiety about a new project using the right management tool

“My boss wants me to set up the new e-commerce site by next month. I only have one graphic design intern and a budget that’s been cut in half. How am I supposed to achieve this?”

Don’t worry… You just have one project to complete!

Everything started because of a project

How many times have we panicked about a new job to do, an event to set up, a team to organize, an additional service to implement…

At the start, we might feel worried and scared that we won’t meet the deadline or reach our goals.

The activities can also be different. From organizing the company Christmas party or our child’s birthday. From writing a new book to setting up a masterclass. To creating a skyscraper. If we think about it, whatever type of activity our boss, our client, or our child has asked us to do, it usually has the same characteristics:

1. I have a to-do list

2. Each of these has a start time and an end date

3. Each one has a “before and after.” An activity that precedes it and one that follows it until the last task.

4. They cannot be executed randomly or as we prefer. They all have a priority.

5. Furthermore, there are those that must necessarily be performed before others. Therefore, they are preparatory

In short, what we generically call an activity or a job is actually a project. This is because a project has all the characteristics listed above.

We can react in two ways: we can either let ourselves be overwhelmed by the disorder, or we can manage it.

Of course, you might say, it needs to be managed. But how?

How to manage a project

The simplest and most immediate thing you can do is write a to-do list.

Like when your wife asks you to go grocery shopping and sends you the list on WhatsApp. Then finding the exact product she wants is another problem. 😊

It seems like a trivial task, but it isn’t. In fact, it is a necessary condition for the project to be successful. You can even write it down by hand on a piece of paper, or do what Jobs did and write it on a napkin while you’re having lunch. If you have your smartphone or computer with you, a Word document or a notepad will be fine.

Second step: put this list of things in order.

All projects consist of activities that must be done in a certain order, with some activities being more important than others and some needing to be done first to get ready for others.

If you are the person responsible for building the skyscraper, it makes no sense to think about the bathroom tiles in the apartments as the first step. Just as you cannot lay the floor before you have laid the foundations properly!

But the preparatory work does not end here.

A project is not a project unless it has a completion date. To achieve this, all project activities must have a start date and an end date.

A simple sheet of paper is no longer enough to manage all this effectively. You need a dedicated tool.

The benefits of a project management tool

When we have to do something new, we tend to use tools that we already know. To optimize time and costs, but also to focus on the real problem of performing a new task.

In our case, the first tool we can use is a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. We are already familiar with this and probably use it every day.

This makes it faster to use, but we will have to do all the work manually. A spreadsheet is not designed to manage projects. Therefore, the next solution will be to use a tool that natively allows you to do so: project management software!

But here lies the Gordian knot. Which one should you use?

How to choose the right tool

Most of the software available is complicated, and this could interfere with our already demanding work of completing a new project.

Every project has its own unique characteristics. Size, resources, team… these are just some of the many features that could categorize it.

When we have to manage a simple project, even on our own without a team of people to coordinate, what we are looking for is a simple and easy-to-use product. But even in this case, there are few products available.

I say this from personal experience. I looked for a long time for a program that would be right for me as a digital product manager, but I couldn’t find anything.

That’s exactly why I created MyGANTT software. It’s designed to help me and anyone who wants to manage projects without getting confused by complicated management software!

If you need a simple tool to help you manage your projects, try my software.

MyGANTT is designed to make your life easier

… and it’s free too!