How to plan your projects as an entrepreneur with a crazy schedule
As an entrepreneur with a lot on your plate, I’m sure you already know the importance of properly planning your projects. It helps you stay organized, focused, and on track to achieve your business goals. But with an unpredictable schedule and a lot on your metaphorical plate, traditional project management strategies may not be quite doing it for you.
You need to be adaptable and flexible with your projects because life is going to happen and throw your beautifully mapped out plans in the air on the regular.
In this blog post, I'm diving into why project planning is essential, why traditional methods may not work for YOU, and some alternatives to still keep you on track and on schedule.
Why project planning is essential for entrepreneurs
As an entrepreneur, you are likely wearing many hats and juggling multiple projects at once. It can be overwhelming to keep everything organized and on track, especially if you have a crazy schedule as a parent or caregiver or have limited energy or capacity due to having a chronic illness, being physically or mentally disabled or neurodivergent.
Project planning is going to be even more essential for you! Because it helps you stay focused on your goals, prioritize tasks, and ensures that those all-important deadlines are met. It also helps you avoid burnout by allowing you to allocate your time and resources effectively and in a sustainable way.
By taking the time to plan your projects, you can increase productivity, minimize stress, and achieve success in your business. However, traditional project management strategies may not work for everyone, especially those with unpredictable schedules and extenuating life circumstances.
Why traditional project management strategies might not work for you
If you’re running your business around fluctuating energy & capacity, a rigid project planning strategy is not going to fit you at those different phases. By its very nature, most project management strategies are strictly structured, and highly formulated and are designed to help keep you accountable to your deadlines.
But deadlines, urgency, and rigid structure can actually be counter-productive when you aren’t in control of your work capacity, time or energy. Getting those “helpful nudges” from your project management system reminding you of all the tasks you should be completed when you physically and literally can’t work can be really rough. It makes you feel unproductive and even less in control of your life and business… not exactly what we want out of a project management strategy, right?
Being adaptable and flexible in your project planning
When life is unpredictable you learn to be flexible and adaptable. Think about how you operate in other areas of your life:
When childcare gets canceled, you jump into problem-solving mode and “figure it out” so your kid is taken care of.
When you wake up sick or unable to operate at 100%, you let your life to-do list go for a while until you recover.
When a partner or family member needs help, you drop everything to go be a support for them
Why shouldn’t your business operate by those same values and principles?
And why should you only consider your life circumstances when it’s an emergency? Often a lot of those emergency situations can be reduced or avoided by taking better care of yourself, your family and your life day to day.
Bringing that adaptability, problem-solving and flexibility into planning out your days, weeks and months can be hugely impactful on your overall energy levels, your happiness and - surprisingly - your productivity!
Yep, because when you are able to fully account for your real-life circumstances, you can plan to use your time and energy more effectively. Which means, when you are sitting down to work, you are in a space and mentality to work.
Introducing my Elastic Planning Method
If you’re ready to take back control over your projects and match your to-do list to your real life, you’re going to love my Elastic Planning method!
Elastic Planning is a flexible approach to planning your projects that adapts to your actual life & schedule, which helps you get things done even when plans change with this adaptable strategy that understands that sometimes, life just happens.
Final Thoughts
As a busy entrepreneur juggling multiple projects and fluctuating energy & capacity, it can be challenging to find time to plan and prioritize effectively. However, taking the time to plan your projects is a crucial investment in the success of your business, because it’s a whole lot harder to achieve something without a solid plan to get you there!
But rather than shoving yourself into a rigid project planning system that doesn’t take into account your ever-changing schedule, fluctuating capacity and energy levels, why not take a more flexible, adaptable approach with my Elastic Planning Method?
