Whether you're a CEO of a company or a housewife with three kids or a college student, managing your goals should be at the forefront of your routine.
In a perfect world we would only have one goal at a time to deal with but in reality we have a million and one things on our plate and only so much time to get them done. Often we forget to do just one thing and our delicately balanced life falls down like dominoes in a row; then we struggle so hard to get back on track.
How can we manage our goals more effectively? Is there an easy way to go about this?
Yes, I think there is.
Let's take the example of the housewife with three children to look after. Running a household can seem like a military operation sometimes. There's Operation Wake Kids Up and Ready For School. There's Operation Do Laundry and Straighten Up House. There's Operation Cook Dinner and Feed Family. There's Operation Grocery Shopping and Menu Planning. Plus a dozen other things, both foreseeable and unforeseeable. By the end of the day you can expect to be so completely and utterly tired that you can't bear the idea of doing it all over again tomorrow.
The first thing you need to do is to write your to-do list for tomorrow (there's no use starting today). Break it up to its most minute tasks. This way you can see clearly what needs to be done. By doing this your tasks won't seem too big to accomplish. Little steps are much easier to climb than big ones.
Prioritize! Get the most important things done first. If that's not possible, then make sure you put it in your schedule right away.
Then schedule your goals in your hourly calendar. Try to put things in the same time frame if their locations are close to each other. You'll waste a lot of time running back and forth otherwise.
Remember to put in times for a break. Without taking a breather once in a while you'll run out of gas and you'll end up not finishing your tasks. It's scientifically proven that even a 10 minute nap can increase your energy and productivity levels. So you're not slacking off by napping, you're recharging your batteries!
Tick off your finished tasks. By doing this you can keep track of what else needs to be done. Also, it will give you a sense of accomplishment by seeing your progress.
Managing a household is a lot like managing your life in general. Your goals probably go beyond making lunch everyday for your family but the way towards it is the same. You need to set the goal then move towards the goal before actually achieving the goal. Having multiple goals doesn't change this line of attack (so to speak), it just makes it more important to implement a system of goal management so that you don't lose track of your goals.