It’s often tempting to jump into projects as quickly as possible without planning them out. After all, we’re all inundated with heavy workloads in today’s work environment.

Yet, without a complete plan and project timeline for your daily activities, molehills can quickly turn into mountains. Even projects you consider small should be thoroughly thought-out and lined with measurable milestones.

When you jump in without first preparing, most of the time you’ll end up less efficient and more prone to errors. This can impact work relationships and customer satisfaction.

If you want to be more productive and make your life easier, establish a timeline for every new project you take on.

Here are five reasons why you should start today:

1. You’ll Be More Organized

This is especially true for people who are self-employed, work from home, are freelancers or product managers. You can expect that every day you’ll be managing several projects at the same time.

If you fail to consider project processing times and details, you can underestimate them and end up missing crucial deadlines.

By planning your projects properly, you’ll have a better idea of the time you’ll need for each task. This will show you how many projects you can take on in a given day.

2. Focus on the Goal of Each Project

Even though details are important, you need to be careful not to lose yourself in them.

With each step of your timeline, ask yourself how important it is to the end result. Every milestone in your project timeline needs to bring you closer to the finished product, not vice versa.

When you include every relevant task in your plan, it’s easier to stay focused on the end result.

A project management tool like Price&Cost can make this a breeze for you.

3. Improved Client Communication

Without great client communication, no project can be successful.

Many clients want to know what’s happening with their project on a step-by-step basis. A project timeline allows you to keep in better contact with them and execute their wishes successfully.

Within each milestone, your client can give input if they believe things are heading in the wrong direction.

4. Increased Work Transparency

Clients want to know about each step of your work. This is especially true with projects that clients don’t have a lot of knowledge about.

This is where timelines can make your life easier.

Each milestone of the timeline helps explain each process of your work. Potential project delays won’t be the end of the world when a client sees that you have a solid plan in place.

5. Reduce Your Own Stress

Taking on projects without timelines is stressful. Most of the information on the project gets stored in your head and becomes overwhelming.

This is true for small projects and large projects alike.

With well-developed timelines, you can walk away from your desk at the end of the day knowing that everything you need to work on tomorrow will be right in front of you.

A Well-Developed Project Timeline Changes the Game

For the successful professional, project timelines are a staple of day-to-day activities.

Once you start incorporating them into your daily workflow, you’ll wonder how you ever functioned without them.

For more life-changing career advice, head over here. You’re sure to find more strategies you can incorporate right away.

We’ll see you soon!