| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Functions, Not Lists!, by Travis K.
This blog has endless resources for researching the needs and goals of a person preparing for an anticipated event. Whether that event is unemployment, extended backpacking, or a SHTF scenario, you are likely to develop a “to-do list” for that event. These lists might be compiled on loose paper, on a computer, or lodged in your brain. Most of us make lists in one form or another since they are invaluable for organization. While a “to-do list” is convenient for simple events such as going to the grocery store, they tend to be detrimental to a project such as “prepping”. The purpose of this article is to show you how to begin thinking differently about your lists, organization, and prioritizing.
I am a Civil Engineer by training and occupation. Engineering jokes aside, one of the practical strengths I bring to everyday life is project management and of course, “to-do lists”. Oh boy, there are lists… I have lists for my vehicle maintenance, hobbies, vacations, and of course for preparedness. Over time, I tried shortening and compiling these lists into one master list. Bad move. This massive list became overwhelming and I found myself scratching my head as where to prioritize. I even found myself wondering how some items got on my list.
The problem with a typical “to-do list” is the list itself! How do you prioritize lists? How do you ensure that you really should do the activities, or buy the items on the list? Where do you begin working, and where do you allocate your valuable resources, whether that be time, money or labor? As personal resources tighten, a methodical approach to prioritizing your lists becomes more important, and allocation strategies are likely to change. For example, someone that works long hours is unlikely to have a surplus of time as a resource. A single parent may not have extra time or a surplus of money. For efficiency and practicality, priorities and a game plan must somehow be assigned.
Instead of developing endless lists that have no definite priorities, purpose, or urgencies associated with them, a better idea is to incorporate a strategy called Value Engineering. Value Engineering (VE) is defined as “an organized effort directed at analyzing the function of goods and services for the purpose of achieving basic functions at the lowest overall cost, consistent with achieving essential characteristics”. To simplify, you must think of your list items in terms of function, not simply items on a list.
VE is a professional engineering focus that would require textbooks and coursework to completely cover, so in the space of this article I will condense basic VE lessons that will assist us in prioritizing our lists. By the end of this article, you will have a new creative skill set you can apply to any project. The 5 general steps in an organized VE approach are as follows, and explained below:
