What to Keep Track of When Documenting Your Project

This week I’ve decided to do a series of posts about how documenting your project, whatever it may be, can be extremely beneficial to your progress. This is Part 2 of 3. [EDIT: This was intended to be a four-part series. I've decided to save the fourth post for much later. ]

Photo by joelmontes, via CC 2.0

Before you even begin to track your project, you need to make sure that you know you what you’re setting out to accomplish.

First Set Smart Goals, Write it Down

One of the most obvious first steps is to set good goals. Envision the end result that you’d like to achieve with this project down to the last detail. With this in mind set your “ultimate” long term goal. Write down all the different aspects of this goal, and more importantly describe what the accomplished goal should look like.

For example, for this project I set the following goals:

• All Floors and surfaces are cleared and visible.
• All doors can open fully and shut properly.
• When a house party is possible.
• When 75% of our belongings are organized and in their place.

Once you’ve detailed the big picture, break the beast of the project down into smaller, more manageable goals and tasks. Make sure you write these down as well. While I don’t have these smaller goals posted publicly, I keep track by using a list of all the rooms in the house then breaking each of the rooms into areas. Read the rest of this entry »

Why You Should Document Your Big Project

This week I’ve decided to do a series of posts about how documenting your project, whatever it may be, can be extremely beneficial to your progress. This is Part 1 of 3. [EDIT: This was intended to be a four-part series. I've decided to save the fourth post for much later. ]

Photo by joelmontes, via CC 2.0

When you are taking on a huge project like this one it is easy to feel overwhelmed, or to feel like you’re not moving forward. I’m not just talking about trying to clean out an extremely cluttered home. I’m talking about any project or goal that will take more than a few months to complete or achieve.

One of the best things you can do is to keep track of the progress that you make, whether it be through journaling, blogging, creating a photo album or scribbling in a spiral-bound notebook.

You may be thinking that your project in and of itself is time-consuming and energy-sucking enough that documenting it would just add more to your plate unnecessarily. But here’s why I think putting in that extra time and effort will be worth your while: Read the rest of this entry »