This week children everywhere are heading back to school; this is a time many parents face with both anticipation and apprehension.  The malls and big box stores are flooded with parents frantically trying to find the last of the items needed for the first day of school, items often so specific they become near impossible to find at the last minute…

I was once that parent and then I thought, why wouldn’t I approach back to school preparation with the same planning that I would for a project?

Once I stopped and thought about it, I broke down back to school preparation in the same way I would a small project in the workplace and here is what I came up with:

Step 1 – Identify what items I need to purchase; that one is easy, the school provides a very detailed list of everything needed (often in great specificity) and the quantities required.  This becomes the checklist that will be used to identify what is needed and allows me to determine when everything has been purchased.

Step 2 – Identify a vendor/retailer to purchase the items from? This requires a bit more thought; such as are you the parent who prefers to bargain hunt for the best deals as competition is often fierce among retailers this time of year, or the time conscious parent who wants to be able to buy everything is one place or a combination of the two? The answer to this question will determine when and where you will purchase the items. For me, I prefer to be able to purchase all the items in one place, for a reasonable price.

Step 3 – Now that I’ve determined my requirements and priority of each, I need to start researching vendors/retailers to determine who can provide all the items needed for what I deem to be a reasonable price. A second checklist can come in handy here to compare various retailers and their pricing and availability for items (I’ll admit, I created a spreadsheet for this).

Step 4 – Next is the sourcing of the items; normally I prefer to do this solo and not on a weekend but this year I had my little helpers in tow. While this can be more stressful, it can be made easier by using delegation skills to delegate tasks to each of your little helpers.

Step 5 – Once all items have been purchased, the project isn’t over… there is still the close out activities such as labeling, organizing and packing the items for the first day of school.

While this is a very simplistic example, it highlights the importance of careful planning and preparation before embarking on any project, both in our professional and personal lives. We often overlook how we can utilize our skills outside of the workplace however upfront planning and preparation can make tasks in our personal lives as efficient and effective (and less stressful) as in our work lives.