how do you track your progress toward your goals?
No time for part 2 of the Anne Lamott blog today -- sorry. Things are humming in my life, but I'm hoping to find time tomorrow to write up my thoughts, before the vividness of the experience fades!
In the meantime, let me briefly mention that I have been experimenting lately (as you can see from the righthand column of my blog) with an online service called 43 things. On Thursday I will introduce it to my students in class, as a way of helping them to make sense of why the plans they set up for themselves last December may not have worked as intended -- and of helping them to stay focused on their goals, keep track of their progress, and give themselves credit for their accomplishments.
I really like the 43things system, even though it's less structured than a Getting Things Done approach or a Covey Seven Habits approach. For students who are online all the time, often from different computers, I think that using this kind of organizing might work even better than keeping a paper planner.
I'd be curious to learn how my readers track progress toward their goals.
- Do you use a paper planner?
- Do you keep your calendar on your computer?
- Is it online so that you can access it from several different computers?
- Or do you sync your computer with a Palm or other handheld, or with a cellphone or something?
- How do you schedule things into your planner in a way that allows you to give priority to important but not always urgent tasks?
- When you feel yourself getting into a cycle of fighting fires, how do you choose to respond so that you retain a sense of efficacy?
Comments
Hi Sandy,
Interesting post.
I used to find myself at the mercy of the "tyranny of the urgent" much more in the past. I have learned to just let unimportant things drop on the floor and not do them -- otherwise I would never have time for my goals.
One thing I have learned is NOT to use To Do lists. I was constantly filling them up with things I needed to do to achieve other people's goals and not my own. I always felt great when I crossed something off my list, but at the end of the day it was usually someone else's goals I was meeting.
That's because I felt overwhelmed with everything on the list and it was my natural tendency to go for the low hanging fruit so that I could "clear the list." Usually that meant doing the tasks that were quickest and easiest to get them off the list, because I felt pressured subconsciously by having a long To Do list. After 8 hours of work I might have 9 things crossed off the list -- what an accomplishment! But guess what? I never got to my important goals -- although I sure felt I had accomplished a lot.
Today I use Outlook and put the most important items into calendar entries with reminders, blocking off a portion of time to do whatever it is that I find important. The reminders keep me focused. Blocking the time off on my calendar makes sure I find the time I need for something important. I block off time in my calendar only for the most important things that help me achieve MY goals, not necessarily someone else's goals. Putting goals into blocks of time on my calendar also curbs my serious tendency to overschedule myself.
This is a system I have honed over the period of about 20 years in my work life. I suppose it is not for everyone. It takes experimentation to find what works best for you -- everyone has their own system.
Anita
Although I have used all sorts of tools, including complex project management tools, I have no settled on "less is more".
I use a Macintosh Powerbook and a Blackberry. All items are scheduled in the iCal application that comes standard on all Macs. Brief notes are entered in Sticky Notes [on screen Post-Its]. Project Plans are tracked in Omni Outliner Proofessional v.3 which not only does great outlines, but can keep track of dates and dollars. The Blackberry and Mac are synced via a PocketMac application that keeps all address books, notes, and calendars in sync.
Yes, I really agree with Anita's view of the tyranny of TO DO!
I also schedule appointments rather than list Tasks/To Dos. Need to send out invoices? I schedule an hour on Friday @ 10am, rather than list it as a 'to do' because it does take time and I need to make sure that time is available.
Sandy,
I've gone through what was once known as "Franklin Planner" training, and I've used all kinds of systems - electronic and paper-based - over the years.
This is just one area of my life that I constantly struggle to manage.
I'm still looking for the "perfect" system. I have the idea that someday someone will create an online calendar that will work for my family and me and with a PDA or similar tool. But then, where do I write my little notes and stuff like that when I'm not "connected?"
Right this minute I'm compelled to use the LotusNotes email and calendar supplied by my employer at work. That's the culture - invitations to meetings and attachments for those meetings are sent through that system and I pretty much have to live with it, like it or not. (And believe me, I truly hate it.) The stuff outside of work (school, home-related tasks, personal goals, etc.) live outside that system either in my Franklin Planner or on my "smartphone." Our family calendar is a white board that gets changed out every couple of months so that the kids can see the big upcoming events like holidays and birthdays and mom-traveling days.
It's not a great system, but there you have it.
I've been wondering about your 43things experiment - what is your experience? Is it helping you stay focused on "what matters?"
Tina
P.S. Anita is 100% right about the psychology of to-do lists!