Three Tiny Things

Michael starts a project with two initial pillars, a TextExpander snippet and a new OmniFocus folder.¹

I start a project in a similar way. For any reasonably complex project, I create the following, in this order:

1. An NVAlt/Dropbox note describing the project
   • The Goal Statement
   • The Project Statement
2. An Outline or mind map
3. An OmniFocus folder

The goal statement never gets edited. I keep it as a reminder of why I started the project. I'll add more goals or modify them, but I keep that initial statement.

The project statement is a guide to accomplishing the goal. It's generally just a few lines that broadly describe what I plan to do.

The mind map is a quick way to do a "mind dump" but provide some context and give a high level view of complexity. The Project Statement helps get the outline going.

The OmniFocus folder is where everything will get distilled into actions.

These are sanity checks for when I begin to get caught up in minutia These are my anchors to what I really want.

Goal Statement Example

Goal: Get Macdrifter off of WordPress and onto a platform that is less obtuse and closer to HTML, CSS and JS. 

I want to enjoy working on the site as much as posting to it.

Project Statement Example

- Research and choose a platform that will allow me to control every aspect of the site. 

- Either learn a new language or get better at Python.

- Self hosted on my own domain.

- Posts stored in plain text as well as DB

- Replace WP Plugins

- Migrate WP content

- API for posting from text editor on iOS

- Must support TypeKit or similar

- Implement new platform on subdomain

- Restyle site