With the arrival of a New Year, it's normal to start thinking along the lines of making goals. The problem is, most of our goals tend to be rather large and unwieldy. Of course, those are the best sort of goals to make, because they mark significant, positive change in your life. On the other hand, it's sometimes hard to know where to begin when it comes time to realize them.
The trick is to figure out a way to break down these big goals into something more manageable. Instead of focusing entirely on the final destination, you'll find it much easier to get where you want to go if you look at what can be done only this week and no further if you're going to stay focused.
Let's look at some tips as to how to do just that.
Start on Monday...
Goals should always be created on a Monday. Why? Typically, this is because it's the day when both optimism and enthusiasm is at its highest. Besides, what better day to figure out your week than on the first day?
Check Your Measurements...
What do your goals look like? If you can't measure them, you haven't figured them out yet. This is because it's absolutely impossible to know where you stand if there's no clear beginning or endpoint. So instead of 'clearing your inbox before lunch' (an impossible task because new emails will always show up), tell yourself you're going to answer a dozen emails before noon.
Use Your Time Wisely...
This is more than just time management. You need to understand more than your schedule. If you have any insight into your best work times, then you will accomplish far more than you ever thought possible. Think about it this way: If you're a morning person, then you should be working on projects requiring a lot of heavy thought then. If you're not a morning person, then maybe your schedule should be more angled toward tasks requiring less concentration until you hit your peak hours. Try scheduling blocks of similar tasks into the time of day when you know you'll get the most out of them for the most success.
Friday Analysis...
So how did you do? At the end of the week, take a little time to look back on the week. Ask yourself several questions: Were you able to accomplish what you needed to? What roadblocks got in your way? How might you have better used your time? What successes can you celebrate? What progress did you make toward your goal? The answers will give you the information you need to help plan your next week. Note your discoveries to use when you set out your schedule following Monday.
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