I know many of you are thinking “what am I supposed to be scheduling”? Answer: You, yourself, your interns, your days, weeks, months, years? Everything?

I was a project manager for 10 years in various industries, but scheduling and getting stuff done was my job. Not all of us are good at keeping schedules, staying focused, or meeting deadlines. That’s why project managers are important to many industries. We’re the pests that keep you on time, working on the right projects, and away from distractions.

A recent client needed just this type of service. She was launching a website and needed to make sure she had all her tasks written down, like a big to-do list, with dates and responsible parties. This is something you, too, can create in a simple spreadsheet. Just add the following columns:

• % Complete
• Task
• Deadline
• Owner
• Notes

Here’s an example I created:

This isn’t that difficult to create, and it will help hold you accountable. Even though it seems like a glorified to-do list, it will keep you on track. If you work with multiple parties, you can use Google Spreadsheets and share it with them. This way, you can all keep up-to-date on the recent developments of your project.