Reno resolutions for the new year: Know your limitations
thoughts. It’s the old cliché, the more I do and learn the more I realize how much more I have to learn. A little humility goes a long way.
Under that umbrella commandment I asked myself the following questions:
Were most projects successful? I define success as achieving project goals. For the most part, I’d say yes. That said, looking back, there were about a dozen small projects I rushed because I thought they were easy. Because I didn’t give each one enough time, on completion I realized I wasn’t as thorough as I could have been. A little bit more time spent on them and they would have been perfect.
Were projects well planned? Most were, a few were not. Projects that were familiar, I tended to loosely plan. As a result I found myself losing time, because I didn’t think out every aspect of the project. Lesson: Big or small project, plan it in writing, every step so nothing is missed.
Did I use my resources well? An extension of the question above. Whether a project is big or small, the same planning methodology ought to be used. Don’t make assumptions and get cocky. I have a tendency to scrupulously plan large projects, and halfheartedly plan short, simple ones that require less effort. Hence, I often guessed or approximated resources, which wasn’t smart.
Did I work with a budget? Budgeting has always been a weak area for me. Maybe it’s because I was a terrible math student in school. Of course, that’s only a cop-out. The only math needed for most projects is simple arithmetic, knowing how to add and subtract. More often than not it involves spending time carefully measuring the dimensions of a project, whether installing cabinets, doors or windows that will fit perfectly in a wall or structure. You’ll find out the importance of meticulous measuring when you fail to measure correctly. The result is wasted resources and money.