Strategies on Improving value and Balance in your Daily Life
Goal setting is the key to a balanced and organized life. By setting goals you can focus your energy and find time to complete all the necessary tasks in your day. It is not an overly complicated idea, really. We have all been doing it in some form since elementary school.
Each of us had weekly spelling tests and math drills we were expected to be able to master. To pass these tests, we all set aside time each day to practice the skill or learn a new word. The daily practice meant meeting those weekly goals.
As adults, the concept is not that much different. It just requires taking a deep breath and blocking out the "urgent" interruptions long enough to decide what is really important. Here is how I do it.
Each Friday I sit down around 4:30 and set my goals for the coming week. I try to choose just 4 or sometimes 5. I pick only one goal in each category: personal, business, professional development and health (mental and physical). My goals are not abstract. They are measurable tasks that forward my vision for my life. A sample week is as follows:Personal: Paint hall bathroom and pick out new tileBusiness: Finish brochure drafts and get approval for 3 out of the 5Professional Development: Read non-fiction book from book list (a list I am continually adding to)Health: In bed by 11pm. Out of bed by 7am.
Each morning, over my first cup of coffee, I write out a list of tasks I am expected to accomplish that day. There are always new and "more urgent" items that are sprung on me, but I make sure I take a step toward accomplishing my goals before I tackle the frantic tasks other people are asking of me. This does two things. First, it gives me a sense of forward momentum that is very important. Second, some of those "urgent" tasks will take care of themselves given a little bit of time.
By setting weekly goals on which to base my daily tasks, I can create a calm and structured environment that allows me to focus on things I enjoy rather than things I am being forced to accomplish.
I take this concept further by setting monthly and yearly goals as well. I set a single, measurable, goal in each of the four categories. My yearly goals rarely stay the same as the year moves forward, but they give me a sense of a bigger picture. The big picture view allows me to brush off the minutiae that so often bogs people down. It prevents me from spending 30 minutes on a small task that does nothing to further the goals of the organization I work for or the goals I have set for myself.
If you take this same concept and apply it to your life, I promise you will feel more rested, more balanced and more efficient than ever before.
