Staying Sane as a Project Manager
How to deliver without damaging your mental health
I’m coming towards the end of one of the longest and most complex projects I’ve managed in my career so far, and I’m still smiling!
There’s been lots of new things to learn, new people to work with and for quite a while a new set of tasks and goals for my day to day schedule. From the start I knew this was going to be a long haul effort, a marathon not a sprint as they say, and as someone with ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) I’m only too aware of the impact stress, changes to routine and added work can have on you physically, mentally and emotionally.
So as I enter the final phases of this project and look back, what do I feel I got right, what did I learn and what would I recommend to others who want to get to the end of a major project and, as well as achieving their goals, are still smiling…and meaning it!
Establish your boundaries and balance early on
Knowing this was going to be a substantially long project to work on, I set two clear boundaries for myself. I recognised that there would be key points where extra hours and potential late nights would very likely be necessary to hit critical deadlines. I also knew that for the most part this would not really be essential but that it would be very easy to fall into a routine of regularly working late and/or on my days off. This coupled with the fact I knew I couldn’t take this on as well as realistically expect to deliver my current workload my boundaries where: 1 I wouldn’t slip into regularly work late/during days off on this project, only doing this during those key crunch times if needed. 2 I communicated clearly with my colleagues to set realistic expectations on work I could deliver for them and work I couldn’t, even carving out a “no meeting” day once a week where I could work purely on this project without requests or meetings about anything else.
Know where your mental/emotional support is in your team
This was one I didn’t plan but was grateful to have. There were several colleagues who worked with me on various mini projects throughout the year and a couple in particular became great mental support partner. One colleague, who had a weekly online meeting with me about the project, would insist we both have a cuppa ready for the start of our meetings (as we had always done in the office) and take a few moments to talk about how we both were feeling about it all. As someone who understood the scope and complexity of the challenges it was great to have this space to share what I was feeling unsure or concerned about as well as having someone to celebrate recent successes with.
Celebrate the mini milestones
This is probably one that many of us do already but it’s worth a reminder that acknowledging and celebrating those mini successes along the way can really help you remember you are making progress. In such long term projects it can be easy to get lost in all the small tasks and not feel like you are getting anywhere. There were some days (or let’s be honest, weeks!) where I felt I had never stopped but not achieved anything. I quickly realised that when I felt like that, it was a sign I hadn’t stepped back and looked at my progress and had got lost in the minutiae.
Don’t underestimate the impact of thinking
Thinking is tiring. And no, this isn’t me just being dramatic, there was a study just last year (2022) into Cognitive Fatigue which recognised that there is a biological mechanism in play meaning “that hard mental work alters brain metabolism”1 . So, it’s probably worth noting that taking breaks or changes in the type of work you are undertaking in terms of mental impact (high or low cognitive tasks) is a good idea as well as remembering that once fatigued you are more likely to make rash or impulsive decisions…which definitely explains why moving a weekly decision making meeting nearer the end of the day was not a great idea!
Pick a planning approach that works for you
Yes, of course how the workload is spread and who else is involved will determine how much you can prioritise your own preference here, but if you are the one doing all or the majority of the planning and coordinating then in my opinion, picking a tool that works for your style and approach can make a huge difference. For me I used Microsoft Planner. I knew I’d be working with lots of different people within my company, some for just a few things, others for a lot of different tasks. As this synced with tools colleagues already used such as Teams, To-Do and Outlook it worked really well for those dipping in and out of the project to be kept up to date whilst I could see the whole project in one place as well as assign individual tasks to individuals or groups to work on with or without me….plus the satisfying “ping” sound when I got to complete a task also provided a nice little boost of dopamine.
Treat your suppliers as you would customers
If working on a project, as I was, that involved a lot of long term work with external suppliers, my top tip is to treat those relationships as you would if they were your customers. For me, I was working with a new supplier and had several different contacts for various parts of the overall project. Having a good working relationship with these individuals was crucial for several reasons, not only was I going to be speaking with them a lot, these were the individuals I would be turning to fix things if they went wrong, help me when I was stuck, guide me while I was still learning and ultimately help me achieve my goals. Unsurprisingly people are more likely to help you and proactively offer more support if you have a good relationship with them, all of which makes your job that much easier.
Of course, these ideas may not work for every individual, team or project but I hope they help remind you that being conscious of the impact of new major piece of work can have on you is an important part of the planning and review process and shouldn’t be forgotten about.
Good luck with your future projects and I’ll love to hear what other recommendations you have!