Productive Goal Setting
Do your resolutions feel like the kiss of death? Do you find yourself always overtaken by backlogs, with no end in sight? The purpose of this post is to teach you how to set goals that actually work for your lifestyle and schedule.
In order to do so, we're going back to basics. We're going to explore what it means for a goal to be productive, different types of productivity hacks and their benefits, as well as some tricks on making sure you never have a clutter-induced panic attack again. So get ready: it's time for a new year full of refreshed creativity and renewed inspiration!
This blog post is brought to by OfficeMax® Ink & Toner.
The first step to setting a productive goal is knowing how to do so. In the article "How to Set SMART Goals," Dennis Merritt Jones offers five criteria that define a productive goal:
Specific Measurable (auditable) Achievable Realistic Timely
His blog post on the subject delves into each of these points in more detail, but this is a lot of information to digest when you're just getting started. The SMART acronym has become a cliche for well-worn business advice. So let's break it down and ask: what does it mean to have a specific goal?
What does it mean to have a specific goal?
The first word, "specific," is easily the most important of all. A specific goal is one that is unambiguous and targeted in its purpose, as are these examples from Merritt Jones: "I will lose 10 pounds" versus "I would like to lose 10 pounds." You can probably guess which one will work better.
The second criterion, "measurable," is the next most important. The goal must be able to be recorded and tracked in some way. Let's take a look at this example:
I would like to lose 10 pounds by March 1st.
If you wanted to track this goal, you'd have to come up with a concrete way of doing so. It's not just that I want to lose weight, it's that I want to lose 10 pounds. How? That is up for debate, but it could involve walking more or eating less or exercising more. It could be tracking my calorie intake over a week, sticking to a low-carb diet, or perhaps even weighing myself regularly.
The last criterion is "achievable," which raises the question: how do I actually accomplish this goal?
How do I actually accomplish this goal?
If the goal doesn't have a clear, quantifiable way of being achieved (a quantifiable metric), then it's not a productive goal. Neither are these examples:
I would like to learn Italian by reading 40 books and making 30 Italian friends on Facebook by December 31st. I would like to find an apartment and get married by June 30th.
The first is ambitious, but it's not going to work if you have no way of knowing how to accomplish it. The second is well-meaning but impossible.
The third criterion, "realistic," covers the grey area of the realistic/achievable intersection. Let's take these three examples:
I would like to reach my target weight by September 30th. I would like to reach my target weight by March 1st. I would like to reach my target weight on Saturday night by September 30th at midnight.
Can you guess which one seems most realistic? The first one: that gives me eight months to lose 10 pounds, which is going to be tough but feasible (all things considered).
Conclusion: the more specific it is and the easier it is to accomplish, the more productive it is.
Is a productive goal realistic?
Let's be honest: nobody has time to read 40 books or make 30 friends on Facebook. That being said, these are just examples of goals that are not going to work in our lives. I would take seriously anyone who told me they had reached this goal (or something similar). This example:
I would like to buy a house in the next two years. I would like to buy a house by next year's end. I would like to find and buy my dream home by next year's end.