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2 Answers

Greg Bogdan
Greg Bogdan
answered Jan 15, 2016
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You could do a work breakdown structure (WBS). It is hard to manage and to decide if a big project is on track or not, but if you divide the project in small chunks of work then it's much easier to control it. Let's say you divided a project that takes 1 month into tasks of 4-6 work hours. You most probably will have around 30-40 tasks. When you have these smaller tasks, you can make a plan and divide these into the days of the week. You're pretty much making a project plan this way.

Then, when you start the work, you'll find that after 2-3 days you already have progress, plus you know exactly if you are on schedule or not. You can of course do this when you have two or three projects at the same time, but you have to prioritize. You have to take into account which project has a closer deadline and which needs more attention. In many cases, people have 1 big project and 2-3 smaller ones.

You could have 2 options -- either finish the smaller ones before schedule so you have more time for the longer project, which is also riskier. The longer the duration of a project is, the riskier it is.

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seantdj
seantdj
answered Jan 15, 2016
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Before determining the best way to keep your projects on track, you probably have to analyze why you weren't able to make your deadlines in the past first. Did you take on a project that's way over your head, or one with an unreasonable delivery date? Are you too distracted? Get all the details and requirements before you take on a project, and don't take on a job that you know you can't finish, because that will hurt you in the long term.

If you're simply too distracted, it's just a question of poor time management. While it's not a regular job, freelancing requires self-discipline--set aside a time and an area dedicated for working, and try to develop a work rhythm that lets you stay productive. If you need help, there are a number of free personal organization apps and tools that you can use to track your tasks and make sure that you're on top of things. Trello is a popular project management tool that offers an intuitive visual interface and the ability to let you track progress for multiple tasks. It can also let you add other people who can collaborate with you on task completion. Best of all, it's free.

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