Project planning & scheduling

The course path

Every course from the list, ordered by the closest date I can actually finish. Dates re-verified live on each provider's own page, 23 Aug 2026. Prices are off the page: the published figures are real, but tax is added at checkout, so the advertised number is never what gets paid.

The one course — the rest is the queue behind it

Do not read the list. Do this one.

—

A list of courses is a plan. One course with a date is a decision.

The plan, in three moves

PMI Project Management Basics — DONE 20 Aug ✓ — two days before the deadline. 23 contact hours banked. That is the CAPM education requirement, cleared.

MS Project — REGISTERED, School of IT, 24 Aug · LICENCE ORDERED BY DAD 21 Aug (he emailed Lodemann IT: “install MSP on Akhanya’s laptop” — Mthobisi Sishi replied “Noted”) · INSTALLED 2 Sep · DRILL BUILT 3 Sep — 46-task house + checker · 0 REPS YET The tool the job actually runs on. This is what makes me employable, not the theory. Nothing left to buy and nothing left to arrange — the only gap is opening the folder. No Plan 3 needed: Microsoft wants USD $30/user/month for it and Project Professional 2024 is R26,999 once, both irrelevant when the company is licensing me.

CAPM exam — parked, unlocked and bookable, but not the assignment. PMI's entry credential. Needs matric + 23 contact hours. Both cleared. It wasn't raised when the next course was named.

Tier 1 · done ✓

01 · COMPLETE ✓ 20 AUG

Project Management Basics

Project Management Institute · Official PMI course · order #25001892240

Format: 100% online, self-paced, no fixed dates
Location: Anywhere — my laptop
Length: 23 contact hours — finished Thu 20 Aug, deadline was Fri 21
Paid: $232 · 16 Aug
Status: Complete ✓ — finished 20 Aug 2026, two days early

What it gives me: the full 23-hour education requirement for CAPM in one purchase, plus a PMI completion certificate and the digital PMBOK guide.

Deadline was Fri 21 Aug — delivered Thu 20 ✓

Certificate delivered ✓ — same day it was finished, 20 Aug. Called shot: he said Friday, it landed Thursday, and he has the PDF to prove the date.

PMI dashboard → CAPM exam info

⚡ Live campaign · IPMA Young Project Manager of the Year

AWARD · ENTRY CLOSES 30 SEPT · NO EXTENSIONS

IPMA-SA — Young Project Manager of the Year

National award · finalists 23 Oct · ceremony 20 Nov, DHL Stadium CT · written assessor report win or lose

Webinar: Wed 26 Aug 11:00 — joining link requested by email 24 Aug · reminder set 10:43
Entry: 3 true stories × 500 words — one doing-the-work · one people · one bigger-picture, each as situation → task → action → result
Proof: Max 2 pages per story — a third of the marks. No links allowed anywhere; apps go in as screenshots
Referees: Supervisor with contact details (the firm — rebuild story) + client's written okay incl. satisfaction (KHOZA?)
Fee: Unknown — nothing on their public pages; register at the portal to see it checked 24 Aug
Submit by: 20 Sept — own buffer · hard close 30 Sept, they grant no extensions

THE ECLIPSE runs through this: make one thing daily · show one thing weekly · enter one thing quarterly, judged by strangers. This entry is quarter one's detonation — and money or fame only count when reality pays them.

ask Wednesday: fee? · project-age bar? · self-directed projects ok? · what separates finalists?

Awards page → Entry portal Email IPMA

THIS WEEK · ASSIGNED · TARGET 100%

The PMI-CP week — construction-specific, straight from the source

First: PMI-CP — Scope & Change Order Mgmt · BOUGHT ✓ · ALL 8 LESSONS + ASSESSMENT COMPLETE 27 AUG · 14 hrs · assessment: 80% to pass · unlimited attempts · no time limit (verified off PMI’s own quiz record, 26 Aug) · COURSE PASSED ✓ CERTIFICATE ISSUED 27 AUG 2026 — 8/8 lessons complete · 6 quiz answer keys · 20-Q mock + 37 cards live in DRILL · target 100% · course
Then: PMI-CP — Project Communications · BOUGHT ✓ 25 AUG · ALL 11 TOPICS + GRADED EXAM PASSED ✓ father told · 17 quiz cards banked to DRILL · COURSE PASSED ✓ CERTIFICATE ISSUED 31 AUG 2026 · PDF on file (seen 4 Sep) · THE HOST IS learn.pmi.org, NOT learning.pmi.org — that one letter cost a whole night of failed logins. Route that works: pmi.org → account menu → Learning → Start on the course card; that click does the SSO handoff. Org unit 8265. Each module is a narrated deck of ~10 pages and NEXT does nothing until the narration ends — set playback to 2× (speed icon, not the gear). Each section commits on Exit Section. · 14 hrs · assessment, target 100% · course
If ahead: Procore — Project Manager Certification · 3 hrs + final exam · enrol
Approved: Columbia Construction PM — YES, 25 Aug. Starts Monday, runs parallel with MS Project (30 + 10 hrs = one normal week) · cert by next Sunday

The week: 28 hrs of PMI-CP into 42 controlled hours — the spare 14 are for drilling to the 100%. Scope & Change first. Bright + MS Project pick up Monday.