Tag: practical

From the idealistic to the pragmatic: Priorities -> Goals -> Tasks

On By MarishaIn My Organizational System, Organization & ProductivityLeave a comment

In the previous two weeks, I wrote about identifying your unique priorities and creating goals in order to make those priorities a reality. Now, it’s time to get very specific and identify tasks that will allow you to reach your goals, so you can live according to your priorities.

Once you identify important goals in your life, it’s time to break them down into actionable steps. What tasks can bring you closer to your goal?

If you want to learn to play piano, a suitable aim may be to play piano 3 times per week for 30 minutes. If you want to spend more time with friends, you can make it a goal to meet up with a friend for dinner or lunch once a week. Then, go ahead and make arrangements with your friends to that end. The key here is to make the steps actionable, so it’s clear what you need to do to move closer to your goal.

Next, you should put the action you’ve identified on your calendar and/or to-do list. Put it somewhere where you won’t forget about the activity, you’ll be reminded of it, and you’ll be able to review it. My calendar and my to-do list (both digital) are my best friends in this regard because they are always by my side (on my phone).

It’s very important to be practical and to plan your activities in detail. Multiple studies have shown the “when, then” approach extremely effective in modifying behavior: for instance, “when I come home from work, I will play piano for 30 minutes. Thus, identify when exactly you will do your new behavior, and decide on what exactly you will do. Be as specific as possible.

We should aim to break down our big goals into small, manageable steps and plan when and how we will carry those out. This is the way to make our goals happen.

Be specific with your priorities: Set goals

On By MarishaIn My Organizational System, Organization & Productivity1 Comment

Last week, I wrote about how you can identify what’s truly important to you in your life. Now, let’s get specific, so we can make your vision a reality.

Now that you’ve reflected on the main categories of your life, we’re going to set goals to reflect where you’d like to be regarding each category.

In some of these areas, you may already be living life as you’d like it to be, and in other areas, there may be a mismatch between what you’d like your life to look like and what it currently is. In this exercise, you’ll gain awareness of where you are now and where you’d like to be.

  1. What goals and projects (activities, responsibilities, things you do) do you have in each category?
  2. Do you feel fulfilled by the combination of goals and projects listed here? Does the list feel “complete”?
  3. In an ideal world, would you remove any goals and/or projects from this category, i.e., would you take anything off your list?
  4. In an ideal world, would you add any goals and/or projects to this list? Is there anything that you feel is missing that you’d like to add?

Run through this exercise for each of the 10 priorities categories. You’re finished when each category feels fulfilling to you.

Now, try to take in the 10 categories together. Do they make for a fulfilling, purposeful life? It may be difficult to hold everything you’ve written in mind at the same time, but allow your gut feeling to guide you here. Does your intuition tell you something is missing? Or does this feel like a pretty good life?