Projects are just sets of activities — related to one another by common goals. But there’s really no fundamental difference between the two concepts. Because pretty much all tasks or activities have component subsets and project-like characteristics. So, the distinction is largely one of scale and intensity, i.e. calling something a ‘project’ suggests a bigger group of activities, with more thought given to their internal relations, priorities and sequence.
A distinction with a purpose. The separate Project and Activity blog categories allow me to think about a particular activity independently of others with which it might be associated. Which allows me to get on with ‘doing things’, rather than procrastinating in the face of seemingly irreconcilable interdependences, prerequisites, etc.
Fixing my flat is a project, however. Because it necessarily requires a mountain of tasks to be completed in sequence or synchrony, over a long period of time, with one core purpose — to enable me to turn the flat into the maximum feasible amount of cash.
Well-being is a project is project, because ‘’I want’’ its myriad tasks and activities to be integrated — whether they need to be or not. I don’t want to merely give up smoking, or lose weight, or improve my physical fitness and mental well-being as separate activities. Not least, because the parts can be both positively reinforcing or in tension.
For example, I could lose weight by foregoing restaurants and pubs. But that would do nothing for my physical fitness — and, most likely, harm my psychological well-being. So balancing activities is not merely a requisite for overall project success, but also a prerequisite for sustaining the parts.