View the article by clicking this link, logging in with your PMI credentials, or reading below.

We all know that project management skills are essential tools for the workplace, helping us to help colleagues get their work done on time, within budget, and to the satisfaction of stakeholders.

However, once a project manager, always a project manager. If you’re anything like me, then you’ll know those skills are not confined to the office—they can be incredibly useful in everyday life as well. Once I sat and thought about how I apply my project management skills outside of work, I couldn’t stop thinking of examples. Here are my favorites…

1. Party planning

PM skill: Requirements management

Whether it’s a birthday party, anniversary event or some other celebration, project managers know how to organize a bash. It’s really important to get the requirements right. You might be the beneficiary of the party, or you might be organizing it for someone else. Either way, it’s worth taking the time to identify what would make the event the success you want it to be.

Last year, I organized my own 20th wedding anniversary party, and the requirements were pretty simple. We wanted good food; a nice, atmospheric location with outside space; and some kind of entertainment for the many children who came with their parents, so the adults had enough time for a proper catch up.

When you know the project requirements, you can move into the planning phase with clear goals.

2. Holiday planning and packing

PM skill: Risk and contingency management

We’re working hard on having our children pack their own bags for holidays, but your project management skills are going to come in useful here, too. When you go away, you’re packing for every eventuality—especially with the kind of summer we’ve had in the UK this year. Summer dress? Check. Waterproofs? Check. Risk management comes naturally once you’ve been caught away from home without the right kit before!

You’ll be planning for whatever weather you might get, with clothes and extras to suit. You’ll plan for contingencies as well: What happens if one of your bags gets lost (split the essentials between the bags)? What happens if a child gets through more clothes in a day than you ever thought possible (pack more clothes)?

3. Meal planning

PM skill: Stakeholder satisfaction

We have a whiteboard on the fridge that I use to plan the meals for the week. If you do the same, you’ll be used to managing stakeholders (i.e., the people eating the food) and trying to juggle all their diverse requirements. Stakeholders can, of course, contribute to the workload of identifying requirements for the week, but they rarely do.

Satisfied stakeholders make so many other things easier!

4. Birthday card organization

PM skill: Stakeholder engagement

Who manages the birthday admin in your house? This year, I’ve been more organized than ever. I ordered all the “special occasion” cards at the beginning of the year so I only had to shop online once, plus I got a discount because I bought 10 at a time. I have a birthday book that lists all the key birthdays and other special dates, so I can look at that once a month and write the cards required for that month.

You know the importance of staying in touch with key stakeholders, finding reasons to create special moments, and letting them know you are thinking about them. At home, sending handwritten cards is an easy way to do that.

5. Clothes and uniform organization

PM skills: Resource allocation and budgeting

Whether it’s sports kit or school uniform, households need someone who looks ahead at what is required, budgets for it, buys it and keeps it clean. (Or someone who delegates those tasks to other responsible stakeholders!)

Forward planning ensures that there are no last-minute scrambles to find essential clothing, especially during busy school mornings or before a big game. Forecasting what’s needed when lets you spread the costs over time rather than facing all the expense at the beginning of the school year, but you have to buy what’s needed on a just-in-time basis in case you end up needing a different size. So many decisions to make…

6. Calendar management

PM skill: Scheduling

We have a calendar in our kitchen that has a column for each member of the family. We can write in what we are doing, key dates and appointments, and even things like whether the children are booked for school meals or need to take a lunchbox. If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t happen.

Managing your calendar is easier when you bring your project management knowledge to the task. You’re looking for dependencies, clashes, when resources are available, and juggling all the logistics of getting people to the right place at the right time.

7. Solving problems

PM skill: Issue management

When things go wrong, project managers pull out their problem-solving toolkit. We use a solution-focused approach, suggest alternative options, make recommendations and then get the task done. Change management skills help bring others along when there is a change of plan.

When there’s time, we can reflect and review by using tools like the “5 Whys” to uncover why the problem happened in the first place.
You probably don’t even realize you are incorporating project management skills into your daily life, but I bet you are. And it’s a good thing. I think project management skills help us with more organized, efficient, and stress-free living.

Okay, I don’t have a Kanban chart up in the kitchen to manage household chores, and I don’t run earned value reports on our household budgets. But there are some tasks that are just easier because project management skills make them so. Project management isn't just for the workplace—it’s a valuable approach to life that can help you achieve your personal goals with greater ease and success.

What do you think? Let me know what project management skills you use most at home, because I’m sure I could bring more of my workplace skills into my home domain.