Today is rung 4 of 6 on this topic
Breaking a big project into days
Can do: Takes a two-week assignment and plans backwards into daily steps.
Why it matters
Projects are where organisation is graded for the first time. The night-before panic is a planning failure, not a laziness one.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Nothing happens for twelve days and then everything happens badly on the thirteenth.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Give a project with a two-week deadline. "What will you do tomorrow?"
Solid looks like: A specific first step, not "start it".
The full activity for this topic · 20 minutes
Plan It Backwards
- 1Write the deadline on the calendar first, then work backwards.
- 2List every task the project needs — research, notes, draft, checking, presenting.
- 3Estimate each task in minutes, then add half again, because everything takes longer.
- 4Place each task on a specific day, leaving the last two days empty on purpose.
- 5Tick off tasks as they're done and check the plan every few days.
If it's too hard
Split a single homework into three chunks over three days.
If it's too easy
They plan the project and then track how far off their time estimates were.
Say this
"What's the very first small step, and which day is it happening?"