Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the seventeenth day of the month is "Method."
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As most of you know, I set quarterly goals (here's the Q2 list for the year) for myself and really focus on those items as a sort of ultimate to-do list for myself. I try to make the goals SMART, which is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Occasionally I stray from this, but I try to be SMART. I have historically done quarterly goals because I use my goals help me develop habits and I think three months is a pretty good time to develop those habits. A month can seem too short and longer than a quarter feels like it's a future I can't really count on. Ha. Here's my method for creating goals and tracking them.
When I'm thinking about what types of goals I need to achieve, I really try to have an honest talk with myself about what's important to me. Is it work? Finances? Health? Family? Once I have figured that out, I set myself four or five big areas of improvement and then I try to have three to five specific goals within those areas. In this quarter, I'm focused on Reading, Connection, Post-Pandemic Reentry, Health, House, and Hannah. That's actually six areas and I can tell you that I don't have the mental headspace for that many things and the "House" goals are already getting shafted.
And how can I tell they're getting shafted? Because I have a journal where I track my quarterly goals and every evening I sit down for a couple of minutes before I go to bed and handwrite my progress. What I'm tracking right now is if I have texted the people I'm supposed to touch base with every week, if I have worked out, if I've been outside for 23 minutes a day, how long Hannah's walks were, if I've meditated that day, and if I've had any training sessions with Hannah. Additionally, I have a section reserved at the bottom of the page to track my weekly adventures, what snail mail I've sent, and if I've taken Hannah to the dog park. You'll notice that what I'm definitely not tracking is if I've done any of my house goals! Ha! I think that I'll either have to add it in somewhere or just admit that those goals aren't priorities for me right now.
At the end of every month I add to a draft blog post for goal updates, so I get a pretty good idea of how the quarterly goals are going each month.
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| One of my goals is to leave my house this quarter. I went to the Farmers Market at the Capitol in Madison on Saturday. It was hot and crowded and kind of sucked and actually reminded me why I stay at home. So this reentry thing is happening, but I'm not enjoying it! But what a powerful display from these women, right? |
How do track goal progress? Do you have a paper journal or paper tracker?
I recently wrote a post about how I don't have any blog goals and wondered if I should. The overwhelming answer to my question was 'don't sweat it, be goal-free.' I was surprised because I thought most of my bloggy friends were into goal-setting. My point is, I don't have any quantifiable goals at the moment anywhere in my life, and I'm learning to embrace living without them. I aim for things, go in positive directions, but I don't systematically track myself anymore. It's a different way to approach life.
ReplyDeleteIf I could count on myself to do something other than sit on the couch with my cat and read, I wouldn't set goals. Unfortunately, I'm not a go-getter and without these goals dictating how I spend my time, I'd be a slug. I admire people who don't need them!
DeleteI don't have any goals, and reading this reminded me of that, but not in a bad way toward you or myself. I stopped setting goals for myself a few years ago and now just take each day as it comes. It makes sense for where I am in my life and what we go through on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteSide note- I've been to that Farmers Market before, but it was in the fall. I'd heard good things about it, but I wasn't blown away. Is there an ideal time to go?
Honestly, I don't know if there's a good time to go to that market. It is always so crowded. Maybe on a rainy day in the summer? There were A LOT of vendors, so there's lots to choose from, but the lines are crazy! Maybe the fall is the best option because it would be cooler. Hm. Any other Madison experts know the answer to this question?
DeleteWe basically never go to the Farmer's Market either! I feel like a "bad" Madisonian when I admit this, however. It's just not really our scene, I guess! It's nice to do now and then, but in terms of buying fresh produce or something, well, I usually already have stuff in the fridge from the grocery store...so I don't always need more? And I know there are neat and yummy products like jams and breads and stuff, but we just don't really eat a lot of that stuff exactly, or I should say we are sort of indifferent about specially purchasing it. So I never feel pulled to go. It's a nice classic Madison thing to do occasionally, I guess, but I honestly can't remember the last time we drove down there for that. Maybe we'll go this summer. ;) We also seldom frequent the Terrace, which I also sometimes feel bad about, because it is a fun and beautiful place! Usually I aim for once a year, but that doesn't even always happen.... sigh, we're boring. hahaha.
DeleteThe Farmer's Market in our town is just down the street and while it only has a couple of dozen tents, I feel like I can get most of the same stuff without having to deal with the crowds of the Madison market? I hadn't been to the Madison one since the pandemic and I honestly don't know if I'll ever go again unless I have a visitor in town! It's really an awesome spectacle, but it intimidates me!
DeleteI only make official goals for the year (I have lots of monthly "to-dos" that are really goals masquerading as to-do items), and I track those in my paper planner. I check in once per month to record any progress and remind myself of my goals and see if I can do anything to move myself toward accomplishing a goal in the month ahead.
ReplyDeleteI think the check in once a month is crucial because it really keeps things on the top of mind!
DeleteI like the IDEA of quarterly goals, but I have not been good at implementing them, in reality. I think I kind of struggle, with my busy/full stage of life right now, to step back and look at my year in that broader context. I can usually think of yearly goals- or more of a master list, I guess, but then I struggle to divide this down further to quarterly goals, or even monthly goals. Then again, I often don't do so great on my yearly goals, so maybe this is why. lol! I tend to be more likely to either do monthly goals and just pick a few items to go for that month, but I haven't been really strict on this lately. I do track certain habits, but that's more of an ongoing thing, and I tend to repeat those same items over and over each month- and I'm not necessarily going for some certain number, exactly. I just track it more to look at patterns generally. I agree with Elisabeth's comment that my monthly goals are really more of "to do" items! Like something that has bubbled up to become more of a need in that season (e.g. repaint deck). Might have been on the yearly goal list, but once it's warm enough, maybe that randomly moves to the "May" goals list.
ReplyDeleteI think you're more ambitious than I am, though. I tend to want to just stay home and do a lot of nothing, but you're someone who goes out there and gets things done, so maybe you don't need quarterly goals or to break things down by the month?
Deletehmm, I know what you mean about anything longer than quarterly- that just seems way too far in the uncertain future. I haven't been setting quarterly goals, but I feel like i would see more improvements in my life if I did. I'll have to sit down and think about it. I like how you laid out your goal-setting process.
ReplyDeleteHey, you do what works for you! Not all people need to have a rigid goal-setting structure!
DeleteLOLOLOLOL-- you picture caption is terrific. I had to be downtown this weekend for a kid activity on campus, and I grumbled and grumbled about the farmers marketers.
ReplyDeleteI grumbled about it, too, and I was one of them! Never again!
DeleteI have a paper planner - an agenda, I guess - and every week I write my daily to-dos, what I'm making for dinner, when I'm going to write, and the things I need to do around the house, along with my classes. There isn't a huge amount of variation from week to week but I love seeing it in print. It also helps remind me of appointments, my son's work schedule, the other son's wrestling schedule, etc.
ReplyDeleteDo you keep your planners? I think it would be such a lovely record to be able to compare 2003 to 2013 to 2023!
DeleteI love reading about other people's goal-setting strategies! While I don't set goals, per se, there are definitely things I want to accomplish... I just... don't really have a plan for how to accomplish them? Goal setting doesn't work well for me, I guess is the problem.
ReplyDeleteThis year, I did sit down and create an Excel spreadsheet to track some basic things I wanted to keep up with... I tracked them for a good while, but stopped and haven't picked it back up again. I feel like the things I do regularly no longer need tracking and the things I never got around to doing won't improve based on tracking my not-doing them.
Daily tracking is so hard! You really need to develop a habit to track things and some things I'm way better about tracking than others. I'm good at tracking Hannah's walks and what books I've read, but terrible about tracking calories and money It's really crucial, I think, to do the self-assessment to see if it's really important to you or not.
DeleteI have a journal where I track things. Though... I don't know if I think of the things I track as "progress", but just the barest minimum of gentle aspirations to stay human and not just go through the motions of work/keep kids alive/eat/sleep. I do like the act of sitting down and writing it all out and being able to see where the holes are - like maybe one week, there are gaps in exercise, then I can try to fit more of that in the next week. Like Kae, I like to see the patterns.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pick focus areas and let some things go to the back burner. Sometimes I make lists and it makes me feel like everything needs to be on the front burner.
Oh, the joy of having a priority list where everything is the priority! I've certainly been there!
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ReplyDeleteI'm paper, but so basic... I am proud of the color-coding method I developed for myself though! https://www.pocobrat.net/2021/03/days-are-short.html
ReplyDeleteThat is a really nice way to make sure you are doing things in a balanced way! I'm not organized enough for that, though!
DeleteWhat a striking protest!! We went to the Madison farmers' market once when we were road tripping--and it was awesome! Definitely the biggest one I've ever been to. I can see how that's not a fun every-week thing if you're not a tourist and live locally though.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's definitely an amazing spectacle. Not sure I'd go again without a guest, though. Our little market in our town is a pretty good substitute.
DeleteI could only dream of being this organized and methodical. We had a few unseasonably hot days last week and it reminded me of how much I struggle with when the weather is supposedly 'perfect' and it makes me want to go outside less, not more. I always feel like my goals have to be squished in around getting walloped by winter depression and having weird autoimmune responses, but I really like your system and could maybe try it on a smaller scale.
ReplyDeleteOh, interesting that the nicer weather makes you want to hole up more! It's definitely the opposite for me, but I think you run hotter than I do, so I could see how not being able to regulate to a comfortable temperature would make the outdoors a lot less appealing.
DeleteI have a paper planner with some gantt charts in the front that I use to track when I've done 10k steps, worked out, and been outside for 23 minutes. I have been bad about tracking lately because life has been kind of chaotic w/ how busy I've been at work. So I just got caught up on tracking for April and would like to stay on top of it.
ReplyDeleteI set very few goals, though. I set 4-6/year usually. I am very weird about goals and will be very hard on myself if I don't achieve them, so I am careful about not asking too much of myself!
Yes, I think you hold yourself a lot more accountable to goals than I do! I am more than happy to just admit something didn't work out and not beat myself up over it, but i can see how my whole system would fall apart if I didn't let myself off pretty easily.
DeleteI use ROAM research to track everything, pick out current priority goals that I want to progress on. I use my monthly blog posts to record more concretely how I'm progressing. Those posts also help me to see where I'm prioritising and adjust if necessary. I think it is fine to decide that something isn't a priority right now, there's no point trying to fool ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI try my best to set measurable goals that feel just a bit challenging but are still attainable. Typically, I set yearly goals and then break those down into monthly goals. I don't keep track of all of my goals because not all of them need that, but I do have a few goals (walking every day, drinking water every day, and doing 100 Peloton workouts) that I use a chart to keep track. Posted about these trackers here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn0ng2ysO-W/.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by your in depth and detailed approach to personal goals. I do this - in a way -for work. I have a current projects list that has goals for each project (broken down into areas), that then includes tasks for each goal. In my personal life though, I just keep a running list of "things I want to get done", aka, tasks masquerading as goals. Although... the tasks that are related do add up to a goal, in my head - e.g., "get this apartment decluttered" = donate clothes, donate books, don't buy things, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd goodness, I'm kind of glad I bailed on the farmer's market. My approach is like Kae's - I often have everything I need, then buy extra that I DON'T need at the market. So... why spend the money, or time? (I also prefer my smaller community farmer's market, although it's not nearly as varied in terms of , well, stuff...)