A few days ago I decided I need to write a project plan for my life. I am not sure where the idea came from but I grabbed hold of it anyway!

I started jotting down the headings for my plan and adding items under each heading. I thought a chunk of time, say thirty years, would be the time schedule to meet all the outcomes. I have done Project Planning in the workplace and also in assignments but it hadn’t occurred to me before how useful it could be in life planning. I felt a bit silly but who cares if it achieves what I want it to do i.e. making sure that I include the quality experiences and people in my life in the years to come.

So far this morning I have five pages of planning under the following headings:

• Introduction
• Project Management Approach
• Project Scope
• Project Scope Management Plan (several areas covered under this title – family, interests, income etc)
• Milestone List
• Change Management Plan
• Communication Management Plan
• Cost Management Plan
• Schedule Management Plan
• Quality Management Plan
• Risk Register
• Cost Baseline

I have appointed myself as Project Manager and my husband as Consultant and Adviser :-). A few things really jumped out at me:

1. The financial implications of living for another thirty years
2. The responsibility is MINE to make sure things happen – “If it is going to be, it is up to me!”
3. The importance of looking after my physical and mental health for the duration

I don’t know what the future holds, even if I will still be typing away at my desk tomorrow, but the exercise was really challenging and made me think beyond today!

Cheers

Lorraine