Decide whether the italicized word is being used as a determiner or a pronoun.
*i just subbed italicized with parenthesis*
(this) project has spiraled out of control.

In this sentence, the word  this  is used as a determiner.
every time a pronoun stands next to a noun it denotes, it will be used as the determiner.
if you say: this is my mother, here  this  is used as a pronoun, because it isn't directly followed by a noun.