What is Project Management?

What is Task Management?

Have you wondered what the difference is between a task and a project?

Task

A task is a simple activity, a single unit of work.

For example, turning on the light is a task. You flip the switch—and it’s done—task completed.

Normally, a task shouldn’t take forever to complete, and isn’t related or interconnected with any other task. Once you’re done with a task, it’s done, and you can essentially forget about it.

Project

A project, on the other hand, is a set of interconnected tasks that might rely on each other, and might rely on other people doing other related tasks as well.

Back to our example, you flip the switch and the light doesn’t work—that means you have to change the light bulb—which involves getting a ladder, finding someone to hold the ladder, finding the right light bulb… and, well, now it’s become a project!

Struggling to cross items off your task list?

Confusion occurs when we treat a project as if it’s a task. If you’re struggling to cross items off your to-do list, this might be the reason.

When you have a project, it’s most effective to write down everything that has happen in your project for it to be completed. Those items are your tasks—and can be prioritized on your task list and scheduled on your calendar.