The other day, I realized that the trick to taking on big projects (like, ahem, weddings) is to break them down into smaller, concrete next steps.
For example, in order to produce the next issue of my neighborhood newsletter, I didn't just write "create newsletter" on my action plan. I broke it down into many smaller steps and assigned each step a deadline: send out article request, send reminder about due date to contributors, edit and format submitted articles, submit copy to printer, pick up copies and give them to the distributor.
Matt and I had to do the same thing when planning our wedding. At one point, we were utterly overwhelmed by how much stuff we had to do. It helped us immensely to break the big items (e.g., "Food") into all the smaller components and spread them out over our remaining months. We stopped worrying about everything all at once (like a giant, amorphous blob) and instead focused on whichever tasks had to be complete that week.
Voila!
Any other strategies for tackling a project as big as a wedding?
5 comments:
I'm not sure of strategies for a wedding, but I'm certainly intrigued to hear some! Just at the beginning phases of planning mine (from 2500 miles away) and am finding it very daunting.
You might find it quite a bit less daunting after you read what Sara has to say here. I, too, felt overwhelmed, and at first (before I read this blog), I felt sucked into only one kind of resource, or like it was wrong to question the limited info that most people use to plan a wedding (or, maybe life). Sara taught me that you probably already know what you need to do and know (though the internet does help!) to plan your wedding if you just take it back to the simple place of remembering what's important.
Sara, you're so wonderfully organized! That table is an inspiration. A month ago, I felt overwhelmed with my wedding planning too. So I divided all the tasks into months, and told myself to focus only on the tasks for the month, and not on everything at once. However after seeing what you've done, I realized I still have a lot of breaking down to do.
i love your grid! i sometimes add extra steps like "take a nap", "have a rum and coke" or "cross off this step". i love making lists, but getting through them is the hard part for me. if i throw in silly things, i have built in breaks to keep myself from getting overwhelmed. plus i get the bonus of crossing off another thing so i feel more accomplished (also helps manage the stress)
If you need help balancing all the "to-do's," Cooper-Atlanta has an in-house wedding consultant that will work with your coordinator and all of your vendors. Our service, stretches beyond limos.
Post a Comment