One week, one job

You name the job first. Not the tools, not the method. The job. "Rebuild the services page so a reader knows what we do." That is a job. "Improve the website" is not. "Set up a project tracker" is not. "Make the services page clear" is a job you can finish.

Seven days means seven days of actual work, not seven days on a calendar while you also do four other things. If you work on this project two hours per day, you have fourteen hours. Scope to fourteen hours. If you have three full days, scope to twenty four hours. Be honest about the time you have.

A scope that fits means you list what you will do and what you will not do. You will rewrite the services page, update the three service descriptions, and add one example per service. You will not redesign the navigation. You will not add a contact form. You will not create case studies. Those might be good ideas. They are not this week's job.

Write the checklist before you start. Audit current services page. Draft new structure. Write three service descriptions. Find or create three examples. Edit for clarity. Check links. Publish. Seven items. You can do seven items in a week.

As you work, keep notes. Not formal documentation. Notes. "The hosting description assumes the reader knows what DNS is. Rewrite." "The example for content strategy needs a before and after, not just an after." "The link to the old portfolio is broken, removed it." These notes keep you from forgetting and keep you from redoing.

You will want to expand scope. You will notice the about page also needs work. You will think of a better way to organize the whole site. Write those ideas in a separate list titled "Not this week." You do not ignore good ideas. You do not let them hijack the current job.

The moment to stop arrives when the checklist is complete. Not when the page is perfect. When the checklist is done. The services page now says what you do. The descriptions are clear. The examples are relevant. You publish. If you notice a typo later, you fix the typo. You do not rewrite the page.

Meetings replace work when someone schedules a meeting to talk about the work instead of doing the work. "Let's meet to discuss the services page" costs an hour. Writing the services page costs three hours. If you meet first, you spend four hours total and the page still is not written. You refuse this by saying "I will draft the page and share it Thursday. We can meet Friday if you have questions." Now the meeting has a purpose.

Some meetings are necessary. A meeting to clarify what the client wants before you start is necessary. A meeting to review a draft and decide on changes is necessary. A meeting to discuss whether you should use blue or navy is not necessary. You put color options in the draft and ask the client to pick in writing.

Collaboration without theater means you work with others by sharing drafts, giving feedback, and making decisions. You do not schedule a kickoff meeting with an agenda and a slide deck. You do not create a shared board with swimlanes. You do not assign roles. You say "I will draft this, you review by Wednesday, we finalize Thursday." You do the work in public where your collaborator can see it. You ask specific questions. "Does this description match how you talk about this service?" Not "What do you think?"

You do not need a certificate in project management. You need a list of what to do, time to do it, and the sense to stop when it is done. You need to refuse the meeting that prevents the work. You need to name the job small enough to finish.

If the job grows past seven days, you did not name it small enough. Next time, name it smaller.

Outside models drafted parts of this lesson. The words were checked on this PC before they were kept.