How to Project Manage Yourself: A Beginner’s Guide
- kevonyawebbriley
- Jul 20
- 2 min read
The first project you ever manage should be yourself. You don’t need a team or a job title for that. Your goals, your habits, your ideas all need direction. That’s where this guide comes in. Whether you’re juggling a job search, launching something new, or just trying to get your life in order, here’s how to start project managing you.
Break Your Goals Into Mini Projects
Big goals are great, but they’re also overwhelming. The secret for accomplishing your long term goals is to break them down into short term goals. So, let’s take your goal of landing a project manager role. Instead of looking at the goal as simply getting a job, look at the steps that it takes to get there. Your first mini project might be to update your resume to reflect PM language so that your resume appeals to hiring managers. This may include:
Looking at PM job descriptions to find commonly used PM jargon,
Looking through your Brag Bank of wins to create resume bullets with data metrics,
and add any new relevant skills or certifications you’ve gained
Voila! You’re ready to move on to your next mini project, which may be something like “Apply to 5 PM jobs by the end of the week”.
Think of yourself as your own client. What are the milestones you have to meet before you fully accomplish your big goal?
Build a Weekly Workflow
You don’t need to plan your entire life, just your week. When you break your goals into a weekly flow, it creates momentum to keep doing it over and over again each week. Using the monthly work journal creates the type of weekly structure you made need. Use this tool to set weekly goals and priorities, review blockers and progress, and reflect and reset.
This type of structure helps you to stop overcommitting and start moving with more intention.
Create Your Personal SOPs
An SOP (standard operating procedure) isn’t just for businesses. It’s a fancy name for a repeatable process.
Start with:
Your morning startup routine
Your biweekly budgeting plan
Your weekly goal review
Having SOPs makes it easier to bounce back when life throws curveballs. No need to start from scratch, because you already have a system that works.
Project managing yourself is the most empowering thing you can do. It gives you structure, vision, and confidence to keep going. It shows you what’s possible when you stop winging it.
Start small. Stay consistent. Trust your system. You don’t need more motivation. You need better management.
