The Organized Middle

A lot of us start school with a simple plan, learn something useful and come out on the other side with better options for work. Over time that plan turns into course sequences, group projects, late nights and a list of assignments that need to get submitted on time. This blog began somewhere in the middle of all that as one more item on my syllabus. Now three days from graduation, I am starting to see this blog as part of my routine, not just part of my grade.

Being able to write all of this down here started as homework and turned into its own small check in with myself. In project procurement terms, it feels similar to a make or buy decision, the point where a team decides what they will take full responsibility for instead of treating it like something temporary that gets handed back when the contract ends. This blog started on the “required” side of the line as a personal branding assignment, and somewhere between posts like this one on skipping the spiral and starting the fix and the late nights drafting after work, it moved into work I am choosing to keep in my hands.

Being able to write all of this down here started as homework and turned into its own small check in with myself. In the last post I wrote about skipping the spiral and going straight to the fix, and this space has quietly become one of the ways I do that, I sort through the mess of a week and look for the small next move. When I think about it through a procurement lens, it feels close to a make or buy decision, where you look at your limited time and energy and decide what work you are willing to build and maintain yourself instead of treating it like something temporary. This blog started out in the “turn it in and move on” category for a personal branding class, and somewhere between those late night drafts and the stories I did not want to lose it shifted into work I am choosing to keep making.

A helpful way I have seen procurement explained is that before a project brings anything in, it slows down enough to make a plan for what is actually needed, what it will cost and who will own which part of the work over time. That same idea works at a personal level when we look at the things that started as requirements in our lives and ask if they still deserve space, time and attention once the original “contract” ends. One of the suggestions in the project procurement quick guide is to define evaluation criteria up front, and you can borrow that by asking three simple questions about any habit or commitment you keep carrying, what value is this bringing me now, what is it costing in energy or time and do I want to be the one responsible for maintaining it in this season. You can take one area like a recurring meeting, a volunteer role or even a workout routine and run it through those questions, if the value and ownership no longer line up, you have permission to “close the contract” and if they do, you have a clearer reason to keep making it instead of feeling like you are stuck with it.

Three days from now I walk across a stage and close out the chapter that started all of this. . If something in here has resonated with you this semester, I hope you keep coming back because this is the part where it becomes fully mine. Twice a month I will be here sharing reflections on living in the middle of it all, practical ways to use project management thinking to stay grounded through work, life and the in between moments as they unfold. If you are not subscribed yet, now is a good time. And if you know someone who is navigating a season that feels bigger than they expected, send this their way.