Create a project with milestones, break it into tasks, assign owners and due dates. Linear is better for dev teams, Asana is better for cross-functional projects. Both have free tiers. The key: every task has one owner and one due date — no exceptions.

Use Asana's timeline view or a simple Gantt chart in Notion. Map out dependencies — what blocks what. Add buffer (multiply your estimate by 1.5x for a realistic schedule). Share the timeline with stakeholders so everyone sees the same picture.

Send a weekly status update (email or Slack) with: what shipped this week, what's planned next week, any blockers or risks. Use a simple template — green/yellow/red for each workstream. This replaces 80% of status meetings and gives stakeholders what they actually want: a quick read on whether things are on track.

Keep a running risk register — a simple table in Notion or Google Sheets listing potential risks, their likelihood, impact, and mitigation plan. Review it weekly. The PM's real job isn't tracking tasks — it's seeing problems 2 weeks before they become crises.

After the project ships, run a retro: what went well, what didn't, what we'd do differently. Document the learnings. Use Retrium for structured facilitation or a simple shared doc. The goal is to get better at estimating and executing next time.