They say that 90% of podcasts don't get past episode 20. And that almost happened here a few times. One of the tricks that kept this little podcast-y thing going? Milestones. So on this milestone of episode 50, let's talk... milestones! --- Working on any kind of big, on-going project can be daunting. It can be exhausting. Sisyphean, almost. Think about a product launch, right? Something that has a decided-upon end-goal or date that something is being released. Those of you familiar with project management frameworks like Agile know that you don't work on 100% of the project at the same speed and actually expect that thing to be fully functional by that due date. People are in charge of and do the work in these things and... well, that's just not how it works. We need reminders that we're moving in the right direction. We need to celebrate wins, big or small. They keep us going, especially when we're not entirely sure if we're being completely effective, if our labors are being appreciated, or even if we're not sure of the viability of the thing we're doing in the first place. Remember: even failed start-ups and restaurants, for example, still had milestones to get to where they were. Since not every milestone is a full-on product launch, we should recognize the variety of milestones that should be appreciated and celebrated. And, as always, links to the resources used for this episode in the show notes. So, Bright Hub Project Management suggests there are four common types of milestones: First, "phase transitions." This is what it sounds like, essentially: when you move from, say, a research-focused phase of your project to a design- or development-focused phase. This is one of those phase transitions that's going to be different for every project because not everybody follows the same path, and rightfully so. Your milestones for your thesis are going to be different from the milestones on an app development project. Next, "rates of completion." Some projects don't have phases, per se, but definitely do have measurable progress. Say you're trying to improve your 5k run time. You don't really "transition" between phases there but you could definitely chart your progress in a measurable fashion, right? So you might say you're reaching a milestone of 75% of your goal time, and then 80% of your goal time, and so on. This is one of those times that having a progress tracker comes in really useful and goes a long way to keeping you motivated. Third, "performance recognition milestones." Let's say you're working on a project in a support capacity, right? You're not hitting the Commit button or signing off on a particular feature, but what if you're doing some quality control? For everything that's going out it's your job to vet something or proofread or so on. In that case, perhaps it's just the number of things you've done that would be the milestone. Did you vet 25 releases? Great! Milestone! Take it. Finally, "completion of a deliverable." This is what people typically think of when they think "milestone," right? You've released something. You've created something. You've produced something. Then you'll typically go on to release the next in the series or the next version of that thing. Ironically, this can be the most difficult milestone to actually feel good about because they can be so far removed from one another or, conversely, happen in such quick succession that the gravitas of the milestone starts to just get lost through pure frequency. The Muse suggests a number of what they call "little milestones" that you should be celebrating: + Did you receive praise for something? Great! That's a milestone, right there. It demonstrates recognition of the work you're doing. + Did you speak up and make your voice heard where it may not have been otherwise? That takes courage a lot of the time. Count it! + Did someone come to you for advice? Whether _you_ believe it or not, that person thinks your knowledge and/or opinion is worth listening to. You may not always feel like the expert but don't let that stop you from counting that accomplishment! + Did you figure out an extra-efficient way of getting something done? That's a great milestone because it has so much pay-off going forward. That absolutely counts. "Great," you're thinking, "Now I know how to acknowledge the milestones I've passed but how do I plan for them?" If there's one bit of advice I could give it's this: be realistic. And, of course, this goes for a lot more than just project management. Over-promising and under-delivering is never a good look. So be realistic about your goals and what milestones you think you may hit along the way. If you know you're not going to hit that time-based milestone in two weeks, call it now. Re-imagine just what you realistically can get done and work toward that. Now, if this is a deadline that's been assigned by someone else and you can't really fudge that, like an assignment for class or something from your boss, ask yourself, "Is the thing I'm imagining that I want to produce really what's being required?" Be realistic about _that_. And, assuming you've got a decent person for an instructor or a supervisor, a little conversation with them for clarification probably couldn't hurt. Lastly, one of the best pieces of advice regarding milestones is learning to say, "No." The better you get at whatever it is you do, the more people will want to collaborate or bring you in on other things. While that often feels great, it can mean stretching yourself way too thin to accomplish the things that person probably appreciated about you in the first place! Don't do that to yourself or to others. I mean, sure, you at 50% is better than you not there at all, but you _have_ to think about how adding more and more spinning plates to your already full collection will impact the things you have to do, those things that aren't ancillary or optional. That said, yes, 50 episodes is definitely a milestone for any podcast, especially one like this that's a labor of love, really. I do everything on my own, from the web hosting to the research to the audio production, all of it. So when I have a little hiccup in the production schedule like last time, I appreciate the understanding of all of you. Here's hoping in a couple years we'll be talking about milestones AGAIN when that episode number rolls into the triple-digits! --- As always, thank you for listening to this little podcast-thing of mine. If you found it entertaining or informative or useful, please do subscribe and rate it on the podcatcher of your choice, whether that's iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or however you listen. And, as usual, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me on Twitter at newprofcast. Show notes, transcripts, and more can be found on the website at thenewprofessor.com. Until next time.