A few years ago, I helped a friend plan their wedding.
It wasn’t my wedding. I wasn’t even in the wedding party. I was just the person they called when things started falling apart.
The venue had backed out. The caterer wasn’t responding. No one had confirmed the photographer. With three months to go, they were overwhelmed, exhausted, and completely unsure what to do next.
They weren’t irresponsible. They weren’t disorganized. They just hadn’t dealt with something this complex before. Something that required juggling details, decisions, money, timing, and a dozen other people—many of whom had opinions, but no accountability.
To them, it felt like chaos.
To me, that's my life. That's project management.
I asked two questions:
“What needs to happen between now and the big day?”
“And who’s responsible for each piece?”
That conversation changed everything. Suddenly, we knew what success would look like. A timeline. A basic task list. A starting point.
It wasn’t perfect. It didn’t fix all the issues. But it moved that couple out of being overwhelmed and into progress.
And I remember thinking:
Why don’t we teach project management to everyone?
Projects Aren’t Just for Work
When most people hear “project management,” they picture corporate settings: Gantt charts, budgets, construction schedules, software releases.
But that’s a narrow view. I'm 37 years old. And I've been a project manager for 34 years. They just started calling me that once I did it at work.
Life is full of projects. You’ve probably managed several already this year:
- Planning a vacation
- Coordinating a kitchen renovation
- Launching a side hustle
- Changing jobs
- Organizing a move
- Supporting a loved one through a tough season
- Hosting a major family event
The truth is, we all manage projects. We just don’t call them that.
And because we don’t think of them as “real projects,” we never pick up the basic skills that would make them smoother, faster, and far less stressful.
Instead, we wing it. We start too fast, skip planning, assume things will go according to plan (they never do), and then scramble when problems show up. Which they always do.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
What Basic Project Skills Look Like in Real Life
Let’s take this out of the theoretical and into the personal.
You don’t need jargon. You don’t need tools. You don’t need a job title that says “project manager.”
You just need to think a little differently—more intentionally—about how you approach the things that matter.
Here are the foundational tasks of a good project manager, written in plain language, with examples from real life:
1. Get clear on your Goals
“What are we trying to do?”
Let’s go back to that wedding. Was the goal to throw a luxury event? Create an intimate family gathering? Host an epic party?
Without understanding the WHY, every decision becomes a guessing game. Should you invite 200 people or 20? Splurge on the venue or the food? These choices are impossible if you haven’t first defined success.
The real skill:
Ask this early. “What does success look like here?”
Write it down. Share it. Use it to filter every other decision.
2. Chunking the Chaos
“Where do we start?”
Big goals are scary because they’re vague. “Redesign the website” or “Renovate the kitchen” sounds massive until you break it into parts: research, design, budget, materials, scheduling, execution.
That’s how you make progress possible: by carving a path through the fog. When you drive from Vancouver to Toronto in the dark, you don't need to see the entire road at once, only the next 50metres. And then the next 50.
The real skill:
Break big things down into small, doable pieces.
You don’t need to know the whole plan—you just need to see the next three steps.
3. Calendar Reality Checks
“When is this actually happening?”
We all think we’ll have more time next week. We don’t. That’s why even well-intentioned projects stall: nothing’s actually scheduled.
And when life throws curveballs—sick kids, last-minute work demands, supply delays—we’re caught off guard.
The real skill:
Block time. Add buffers. Plan like life will get in the way—because it will.
4. People Herding (Without Losing Your Mind)
“Who’s doing what?”
Projects with people are projects with friction. A friend says they’ll help paint the guest room but disappears on the weekend. A contractor promises “end of the month”—but forgets to say which month.
The real skill:
Get specific. Assign ownership. Follow up early, not after things go sideways.
People are forgetful, not malicious. Recognize that you and your task you asked them to do, are not the most important thing in their life. A gentle check-in goes a long way.
5. Flexible Focus
“What matters most right now?”
You can’t fix everything at once. Trying to do so guarantees burnout. Focused effort beats scattered motion—especially when resources (time, money, energy) are limited.
The real skill:
Make peace with "good enough". Prioritize the thing that unlocks the next thing.
Perfection is the enemy of momentum.
6. Saying No to "Scope Creep"
“Do we really need this?”
Halfway through your kitchen reno, someone suggests adding a breakfast nook, and now you’re weeks behind and $8K over.
That’s scope creep—and it sneaks in one innocent idea at a time.
The real skill:
Pause. Ask, “Was this part of the original plan?” If not, decide intentionally: is this worth the extra money, extra time and derailing everything else? If the answer is yes, go for it. If the answer is no, kill it.
7. Closing the Loop
“Are we done?”
Most people crawl across the finish line of a project and collapse. No reflection. No review. No closure.
That’s a missed opportunity.
The real skill:
Take 10 minutes to debrief. What worked? What didn’t? What will you do differently next time?
You won’t remember the details six months later. Write them down now.
This Isn’t About Being a Hyper Organized Professional
You don’t need to be ultra-organized to benefit from this.
You don’t need a spreadsheet addiction.
You don’t need a whiteboard.
This is about working with intention—instead of just reacting to the latest crisis. It’s about building small habits that help you see the road ahead a little more clearly, and help others travel it with you.
And once you’ve felt the difference—once you’ve managed even one personal project with this kind of focus—you won’t want to go back to winging it. Ever.
Final Thought
You don’t have to work in construction or IT or business to be a project manager.
You just have to live a life with goals, people, and challenges.
And if that’s you—which it is—then project management isn’t a job.
It’s a life skill.
One that every human can benefit from.
And one that most never get taught.
But now, you’ve got a place to start.
Your weekly actionable Tip:
This week, pick something you’ve been putting off.
Maybe it’s:
- Cleaning out the garage
- Booking that trip
- Updating your resume
- Finishing a home project
- Launching a creative idea you’ve been circling for months
Treat it like a project.
- Define what “done” looks like
- Break it into 3-5 steps
- Block time on your calendar
- Ask someone to check in on your progress
It doesn’t need to be complicated. Just put more organization into it, and follow the steps. Prepare to have your mind blown.
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