Proper Project Planning

There are many guides to handle a project properly and efficiently. Most of the contain fancy graphics and tables which, when it comes down to real life usage, most precisely fail to be of any use.
It's not only the graphical depiction of the processes you're supposed to apply that are wrong, but also the whole processes seem to be terribly inaccurate if you look back on a finished project.

That's also something that's suggested by those guides so you can learn from your mistakes. However, I recommend not to do so, because most of the time you'll end up so depressed about all the things you did wrong or didn't do at all that you need a really stiff drink afterwards.
I'd propose you just skip the looking back part and go out for a drink immediately after having handed out the project report.
Most people already do that, but they disguise it by calling it an "end of project celebration", which is basically the euphemistic equivalent to a nice and hefty booze-up.

Here's how projects are really handled, regardless of any advice.

Person A comes up with solution F, Person B has the idea for solution G, C knows how the solution H works and Persons D and E are arguing about the report layout.
While A tries to convince everyone that F is the best, B and C try to win D and E for their course. The next day A says that solutions G and H are equally good, B now says that F is perfectly fine, D can't decide which of F, G and H she hates the most and E has lost track of everything. C has called out sick that day.
The following day E has finally caught up to the rest and has many issues about each solution, A is discussing with C the happenings of the previous day, B is violently trying to get F to be the final solution, C keeps unsuccessfully insisting on a democratic selection and D is nagging about the lousy teamwork and how the project is failing.
After the more or less worst solution has been found, everyone agrees on going on with it so they can finally have their cup of coffee (except D, she hates coffee, she's just lazy). After everything is thorougly calculated and estimated and the deadline is drawing closer, E finds out that the solution is not working after all and that A,B and D are lousy jerks nobody can possibly work with.
The following quarrels and lengthy nightshifts result in a completely reworked report, which is all but correct or even useful.


Despite all these problems, the projects are usually a striking success and nobody really knows why (and nobody actually wants to know).


So long
Tim