From South Korea to the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to bunker up in their homes to decrease infections. Finding a ray of hope in these dull times can be difficult, especially if you’re stuck at home doing nothing.
Nevertheless, it is up to us to droop in the corner and become sad over the things you cannot do or rise from this unfortunate situation even stronger. In this article, we will discuss why the lockdown is the perfect opportunity to work on your project management career.
Why Should I Work on My Project Career During the Lockdown?
Being at home, allows us to save travel time and minimizes the distractions we face. These factors add up quickly to several hours a week, giving us ample time to reflect on our strengths and weakness. The lockdown is the perfect time for the aspirants of project management to work on their career objectives and open their way to becoming project managers.
Boosts Your Employability
Although work may seem a little chaotic for most of us at the moment, things won’t be this uncertain forever. Sooner or later, the situation will start to become normal, and the world will reopen. If you invest this time in learning the foundations of project management, you will be one of the few people prepared to fill in project management roles in a resurging economy.
Every Day Doing Nothing Is an Opportunity Missed
When people are not in their constant hectic routine, it’s easy for them to lose productivity. They tend to become complacent and waste a lot of time doing menial tasks, thinking that they have a lot of time. If you are struggling with similar issues, setting an objective to work on your career can be an excellent motivator for using your time productively.
Since it’s hard to keep track of time when you are at home, you should create a schedule for your day. Aside from doing your daily tasks or working from home, for instance, you should try to set time aside for learning things that will help your career grow.
Failing to do so can hurt you a lot in the long-term. While you are complacent in your home, other, more motivated people are building project management knowledge and setting themselves up for a PM career. By not working yourself, you allow others to achieve the dream career you always wanted.
Expands Your Horizons
Learning project management skills doesn’t have to be at a rapid pace. You can start little by little and introduce yourself to new concepts gradually. This will help you get the feel of the new subject, and help you decide whether project management is really the right fit for you.
There are a number of hard and soft skills you can start learning to become a good project manager. This is why even studying a small amount can refurbish existing knowledge and broaden your horizons. Onwards, you can expand on your knowledge and develop your own expertise.
How Can I Work on My Project Management Career?
Develop Study Plan and Schedule
Planning, scheduling, and efficient time management are crucial skills for any project manager. They must break down tasks, plan them, and execute them incrementally. To prepare for the role of a project manager, you will need to make most of your planning skills and create a comprehensive study schedule for learning project management concepts.
Depending on the nature of your job and the responsibilities you have for home, your studying schedule can vary. When setting up your schedule, make sure that it is realistic, and establish weekly milestones to track your progress. Also, remember to dedicate time in your schedule for breaks and things you enjoy.
Lastly, if you have been studying for long periods, you should consider dedicating a 10-minute break for every 50 minutes of studying. Not only will it help you recover from exhaustion, but it will also regain your focus and allow you to concentrate on the study material more effectively. Research shows that giving yourself small breaks in your study plan can help you learn new things comprehensively.
Online Courses
Online courses can be an amazing resource to familiarize yourself with the foundations of project management. These courses help you understand critical concepts in project management with the help of hands-on tasks and assignments. Such assignments are designed to make you interact with business branches and lets you showcase your project management skills and knowledge.
With the help of these courses, you can seek formal project management training. A good project management online course will improve your capability and credibility to deliver projects timely and successfully. At the same time, it can help PM aspirants to learn how to utilize resources more effectively and understand project management best practices.
CAPM Certification
Another thing you can do to gain valuable project management experience is to qualify for the CAPM certification. The Certified Associate in Project Management is an entry-level certificate and several small firms are willing to accept people with CAPM certificate as project managers.
Even if you are working at a job that gives you the authority to work on your own projects, you can try to get the required experience by starting your projects.
Attend PMI-Certified Project Management Training
Attending at least 35 hours of training in Project Management is necessary for the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam – the golden standard for project managers all over the world. However, PMI enforced this requirement for good reason, and the training course can help you revisit the core foundations of the agile methodology.
It is one of the most efficient ways to learn the key principles, techniques, tools, and practices needed in project management. But for that, you need to give your entire focus and attention to these training lectures.
At the same time, since you are pursuing project management training in an online classroom environment, you will get to prepare for the exam in an interactive manner. Not only will it help you prepare for the PMP exam in a defined timeframe, but will also set the pace for your preparation approach.
Adjusting to life during lockdown is not easy y any means. However, by working on your career goals during this lockdown, you can set yourself perfectly for a career in project management.