Managing and achieving goals

I’d love to say that I always manage my goals and tasks effectively. I make use of a few different techniques and models which are helpful, but being a fallible human being I often mess up.

What do I use?

SMART-Y pants

In my organisation I use SMART objectives to document and track what I want to achieve for the reporting year. Overall I find it an effective way to think about what you want to do, why you want to do it, and how you think you can get it done. I track these in an internal tool. Which is handy for adding updates and stuff like that.

Trello

My personal board used to track the chaotic mess that is sometimes my mind. I’ve implemented something that resembles a bad filing system and a Kanban board. It’s full of things that I don’t want to forget: goals, tasks, and whatever else. In general it’s a semi organised brain dump which is useful in its own right.

My Trello madness Fig.1 Image showing a screenshot of a Trello Board

Eisenhower matrix

I’ve been using an Eisenhower matrix to help prioritise and manage my tasks during the week. The simple 4 quadrants have really helped me focus on the most important things at any time. It helps me stay calm when things get hectic and stressful. I know what thing needs attention next most of the time.

My Eisenhower matrix Fig.2 Image showing a screenshot of an eisenhower matrix

How does this work out?

In writing this post, I’ve concluded I probably have too many places to track my goals. Most of the things I use are helpful for task management. I find them all useful, but they aren’t joined up to fully support me and my goals.

I have SMART goals, but the things I need to do aren’t flowing into my day to day task management. I need to have another think about how this all hangs together, and see if I can improve flow.

Thanks for the topic. It certainly got me thinking.