How To Set Your Goals - The Simple Goal Setting Process Of A Professional Organizer

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If you know how to set your goals, then you will be able to accomplish so much!

I've been able to accomplish totally amazing things like...

starting and running my own successful business
writing a book
creating a content-rich website that has thousands of monthly visitors

I was able to achieve these things with a very easy formula - my simple goal setting process that's outlined below. If you want to reach the aims you set for yourself, then keep reading!

A huge part of good time management involves goal setting, so let's do it right. Below you'll find a guide detailing exactly how to set realistic goals with realistic timelines as well as how to stick to them. Enjoy!

Do The Opposite Of Nothing: The Ridiculously Simple Strategy For Serious Procrastinators To Go From Overwhelmed To Organized

Check out my latest book and bust through that procrastination! Available as a paperback, an audiobook and an ebook on Kindle but NO KINDLE NECESSARY. Enjoy!

How To Set Your Goals:
1. Be Realistic

Part of good time management is knowing how to set realistic goals. What is a realistic goal? What are smart goals?

A goal is a task that you strive to complete, but a realistic goal is a specific task with a reasonable time line that you strive to complete.

Any way you slice it, your goal has to be realistic in order to achieve it. No matter how big or small you think you’re goal is, you have to be specific in how your going to get there.

A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself all the who, what, where questions until you know how you’re going to cover every angle of your goal.

For example, let's say your new year's resolution is to lose weight. If your goal is that general, chances are it won't happen.

Make your goal more specific. Ask yourself a lot of questions, so you can figure out every angle of how you're going to get there.

Why do you want to lose weight?
Do you exercise enough?
Do you eat out too much?
Do you eat too much in one sitting?

After answering a bunch of questions, your new year's resolution will transform from wanting to lose weight...to going to the grocery store once a week so you can cook 4 nights a week, one of which is a new recipe.

When you have a clear path to your end result, then you know you've made a realistic goal and are on your way to great time management.

Here's how to set your goals at the beginning of the year - 5 super-easy ways to successfully keep your new year's resolutions!

How To Set Your Goals:
2. The Time Line

Another part of learning time management is setting realistic time lines. The quickest way to NOT get your goals accomplished is to set unrealistic expectations. We have to set goals with realistic due dates.

And setting realistic due dates is all about what you know you can accomplish. Who are you? What can you handle? Set due dates that you truly believe you can reach.

Here's an example:

This is one of those stories that starts out with my fiancée (now husband) thinking I’m a little crazy but ends up with him being so thankful that I did what I did.

I started packing for our move one month prior to moving day. Now this might sound a little absurd for a small one-bedroom apartment but trust me it turned out to be quite the opposite…

What I did was block off one hour on each weekday leading up to moving day to pack boxes. The first week I started with decorations, holiday items, winter clothes (since it was a summer move), and so on.

We moved on a Tuesday. Since I really stuck to my packing schedule, I was pretty much done the week before. This left the weekend and the day before moving day open for much needed relaxation and some time to deal with the unexpected.

Now I know that my fiancée was ever so grateful for this free time because he used it to propose to me the night before we moved! We actually had time to be excited, call our close friends and family with the news (which took a lot longer than I ever imagined it would), and go to dinner to celebrate.

In the story I just told you, I knew I couldn’t pack at the last minute and cram everything into the weekend before moving day. That’s not how I operate. I’m not comfortable under that kind of pressure. I like things to be planned out. Knowing myself like that, the whole month of packing little by little was a realistic time line and the goal was achieved.

Also, as the above story demonstrates, you can always expect unexpected things to happen. Scheduling your tasks, doing so realistically and sticking to your time line is absolutely crucial to good time management and accomplishing your goals.

How To Set Your Goals:
3. Stick To The Plan

How do we commit?

Well, how do you get your errands done? How do you make sure you go to the grocery store or pick up the dry cleaning? Errands are usually small, specific tasks with immediate results, so we are more inclined to get them done.

So...do you know what I'm going to say?!

BREAK DOWN YOUR GOALS into small, specific tasks with reasonable deadlines that you can complete. Block off some time, pencil the tasks into your calendar and do them.

Another element of learning how to set your goals is overcoming procrastination. Here's how to do it!

TIME MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS

Time Timer
This visual timer is awesome and very popular! Set the amount of time you want to spend on a task and go.

Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done is THE productivity book and is a great starting point for anyone looking to build their time management foundation on something strong. I highly recommend it.

The Miracle Cube Timer
This simple timer has rave reviews! Set it by resting it with the desired time facing up, and a loud alarm sounds when the appropriate amount of time has passed.