Pebblepup's Writing Den

The key to project management is to assign priorities to each task that needs to be done. What you need to do is break the project down into the steps.
First, you assign the project a deadline. That is the time that you need to have the entire project completely. Then break the project down to the tasks that need to be done in order to complete the project.
A writing project, for example, can be broken down into background work, writing the first draft, revising, and then publishing work. You determine when you want to be finished with the tasks. That’s your deadline. Then look at the tasks, like the background work. What does that entail?
I break it down to completing the premise, the beat sheet, the scene list, world building, character development, setting descriptions. I set a deadline for the background work.
Setting priorities invokes knowing which ones need to happen first. In the example above, the promise and beat sheets need to happen first. So they get an earlier deadline than the character sheets, scene lists, and setting descriptions. What happens next often depends on how I feel. I usually do the character sheets after that. Then I do the scene list. That works for me.
The point is, you have a firm deadline for your task and then you assign the steps their priorities of what needs to happen before other tasks can even start. This is the process of setting priorities.
You can apply this process to any project you are working on or even the chores of your day. On trash day, you need to get the trash together and out before pickup. So that would take priority over washing dishes. That’s the way it goes. It’s very simple.
Setting priorities really boils down to what you feel is important. You know what you think is important. The way you choose the priority of an item is completely up to to you.
You set the priorities based on what you feel is important. That’s really is all there is to setting priorities. The criteria you use is up to you. I use dates for my writing steps. That’s the way I do it. Your choices may be based on what you feel is more important.
So that’s all you need to do. Setting priorities helps you to organize your project in a way that sets you up for success in completing your project on time. That is what project management is all about.
Project management is what you make of it. It helps make the work go smoothly. Of course, you can’t always predict how long it will take you to do each task. Things happen. So try to have a little wriggle room in your deadlines. So try to prioritize the steps for your next project. You might find it helpful. Good luck and keep writing.