We all have a to-do list (I assume), but do you also have a worry-list?

We are usually pretty good at tracking the things we need to do, but we often miss paying attention to risks. Those risks have a tendency to turn into issues at the worst moment and often prevent us from achieving a goal (or at least require last-minute fire fights).

Think about all the things that could go wrong. What are you worried about. Then find solutions or mitigations for each and burn down that list to zero.

It’s a good practice to start a worry-list when you start a new project. Probably even before you start a to-do list.

Get a handle on all things that could go wrong

Start listing the things that could go wrong. Look at that list from all different angles (e.g. resourcing changes, stakeholder alignment, changing assumptions, ambiguity on details and data) to make it as comprehensive as possible.

Keep adding to that list as you go deeper into the project, learn more and discover new risks and challenges. Think about all the possible worst-case scenarios and what they would mean for your goal (Special Forces teams do a similar scenario-play exercise before going into a mission).

Your worry list should contain:

• Big risks for your goal
• Upcoming or anticipated challenges
• Big open questions and any areas of ambiguity

Get on a glide path to bliss

Once you have your list, make it a point and recurring check to burn down that list. Treat it like a bug list – burn down issue by issue and make sure you have a glide path to zero way before your project is due.

Be clear and understand which items on your worry list need to be resolved first and by what time. What needs to come next? What project steps do need which items to be resolved? What are the long poles that take more time to figure out?

Track risks closely so that you will spot early if a risk turns into an actual issue (dependencies to other people or teams are a great example for this).

If you don’t have one, start a worry list for your key priorities today.