# The Core of Your Project Plan: The Task List

Without a grocery list, you might not remember all the ingredients you need to buy for tonight’s dinner. Without a task list, you might leave out some of the tasks that need to be performed to achieve your project goals. The task list is the core of your project plan. It consists of all the tasks, phases, and milestones required by your project.

To create an effective task list, use the following rules of thumb:

- Include only tasks that are critical to the completion of your project.
- Add tasks that are significant, yet detailed enough that the time to complete each one is short compared to the overall project length.
- Build in phases and milestones.
- Remember tasks that occur repetitively, such as weekly meetings, status reporting, and anticipated revision work.

In Microsoft Project, you enter and work with tasks mainly in the Gantt Chart view. As you create your task list, you can easily refine it by adding milestones, entering tasks that occur at regular intervals, entering the estimated time each task will take, and deleting unnecessary tasks.

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