I’ve read many articles about how good time management can help you achieve goals but have you thought about how a well-written goal can actually help to manage your time, energy and day-to-day efforts more successfully?
Goals are a powerful time management tool. You can mange your time more effectively when you know what you want, why you want it and have a plan for going forward. Well-written goals focus your valuable time and energy on keeping the important things, important.
Goals can become one of your most useful time management tools – here are a few suggestions:
1. Write out a short-term goal – one you will want to accomplish within the next month. Be as specific and detailed as possible. Example: I will complete a written and detailed table of contents outlining each chapter of my upcoming EBook, The Power of Goals on or before ___ (date goes here).
2. Make an emotional and physical commitment to your goal. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being extremely important, does your goal rate an eight or higher? You’ll be more focused and motivated on what needs to be completed the more important your goal is to you. How does your newly written goal rate on this scale?
3. Determine how much time it will take you to complete this goal. How much time do you believe it will take to actually achieve the goal you finished writing in activity number one. Ask yourself this:
- How many hours per week am I willing to commit to completing my goal?
- How much time per day am I willing to commit to working on my goal?
- Am I willing to organize or reorganize my time to make sure I achieve my goal on time?
4. Write out a workable plan of action. This is the time to break your goal into bite-sized pieces. Your plan of action needs a starting date and a completion date. It’s easier to stay focused on what’s important when you have a clearly written plan of action.
- Look at the upcoming month and plan out your goal achieving time.
- On a calendar chunk out blocks of quality time to work on your goal.
- What will you finish in the first, second, third and fourth weeks?
- How much time will you devote each workday to achieving your goal?
- How will you keep yourself accountable and focused on achieving this goal?
5. Break your plan of action into a daily to-do list. It is easier to organize your time when you know what you intend to complete hour-by-hour and day-by-day. Prioritize your list remembering to keep the most important things, important. Work each item on your to-do list until it is completed, focusing on the end result.
I’ve found from personal experience that it is well worth my time and effort to work through each of these five goal achieving steps. Organizing your time and effort by writing out your goals will actually save you time.
It is up to you to follow through with your goal achieving and time management plans. You are the one person who is ultimately responsible for how well you manage your time and energy. Writing a goal, committing to achieving to it and then developing a workable plan of action adds up to a powerful time management tool.
