6 Ways Goals Help You Get Things Done
Virtually all time management experts agree that goals are a very important component of effective time management. So here are the top 6 ways goals help you be more productive and get things done.
1) Goals help you establish priorities & decide what's truly important
As I've mentioned before, to manage your time effectively you need to realize that you can't do EVERYTHING. So you have to choose what you are going to spend your valuable time on and what you are NOT going to do at all. And that means prioritizing.
The process of identifying and writing down your top goals helps you figure out what's most important and valuable to you. And the clarity that comes from this process is invaluable for setting priorities and truly focusing on what matters most.
2) Achieving worthwhile goals is a GREAT way to spend your time
Henry David Thoreau said, "It's not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?"
In The Effective Executive, management guru Peter Drucker says that effectiveness is the critical quality that distinguishes great achievers from everyone else.
That's because true productivity and achievement are not just about getting things done. Much more important than how much "stuff" you get done is whether your actions are helping you create the results you truly want in your business and your life; in other words, true productivity and achievement need effectiveness; they're about getting the right things done.
That's why achieving worthwhile goals is a great way to spend your time. In fact, one of the questions you can ask yourself regularly to decide if you are being productive or not is this,
"Are my actions moving me closer to one or more of my important goals?"
But to ask and answer this question, you need to know what your goals are.
3) Goals help you achieve better work/life balance
A couple of months ago I described a simple but very effective practice you can use to help you gain better work/life balance. I've personally used this method for over a year with very good results.
The main idea is to identify the key areas of your life (the ones you think are most important) and to focus on one key area each month. So one month you can focus on health, another one on
finances, another one on your key relationships and so on.
The question is: have you actually done anything to improve or balance these key areas of your life in the past couple of months?
1) Goals help you establish priorities & decide what's truly important
As I've mentioned before, to manage your time effectively you need to realize that you can't do EVERYTHING. So you have to choose what you are going to spend your valuable time on and what you are NOT going to do at all. And that means prioritizing.
The process of identifying and writing down your top goals helps you figure out what's most important and valuable to you. And the clarity that comes from this process is invaluable for setting priorities and truly focusing on what matters most.
2) Achieving worthwhile goals is a GREAT way to spend your time
Henry David Thoreau said, "It's not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?"
In The Effective Executive, management guru Peter Drucker says that effectiveness is the critical quality that distinguishes great achievers from everyone else.
That's because true productivity and achievement are not just about getting things done. Much more important than how much "stuff" you get done is whether your actions are helping you create the results you truly want in your business and your life; in other words, true productivity and achievement need effectiveness; they're about getting the right things done.
That's why achieving worthwhile goals is a great way to spend your time. In fact, one of the questions you can ask yourself regularly to decide if you are being productive or not is this,
"Are my actions moving me closer to one or more of my important goals?"
But to ask and answer this question, you need to know what your goals are.
3) Goals help you achieve better work/life balance
A couple of months ago I described a simple but very effective practice you can use to help you gain better work/life balance. I've personally used this method for over a year with very good results.
The main idea is to identify the key areas of your life (the ones you think are most important) and to focus on one key area each month. So one month you can focus on health, another one on
finances, another one on your key relationships and so on.
The question is: have you actually done anything to improve or balance these key areas of your life in the past couple of months?
Or are you pretty much in the same boat you were in back then?
These key areas of your life are NOT going to improve by accident... and if you neglect them for too long, things might actually get worse.
This is the first day of June and the 28 Day Goal Challenge is a *perfect* way to put this practice into motion and gradually get your life back in balance.
The truth is that there will never be a "perfect" or right time start the process and get back into balance, the only time is now and just 11 minutes per day is all it takes...
4) Goals give you a target to aim for
Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of the classic Psycho-Cybernetics, said that human beings have a built-in goal seeking "success mechanism" that is part of the subconscious mind. This success
mechanism is constantly searching for ways to help us reach our targets and find answers to our problems. According to Maltz, we work and feel better when our success mechanism is fully engaged going after clear targets.
All we have to do to use this mechanism is to give it a target.
Without one, our success mechanism lies dormant, or worse, pursues targets we didn't consciously choose, both of which interfere with our productivity.
Goals provide your success mechanism with clear targets of your own choosing based on what is most important to you.
5) Goals help you concentrate your time and effort
One important reason goals help you get things done is that they encourage you to focus and concentrate your time, energy, and resources on a single objective; even if it is just for a few hours at a time.
This type of concentrated power can produce results that are much greater than those achievable through the diffused and unfocused energy many people use to get through their days.
A clear example of the power of the concentration and focusing of energy can be seen in a simple magnifying glass. The light from the sun arrives at the Earth as diffused energy.
We know the energy is there because we can feel the heat from sunlight on our skin. When this diffused energy is concentrated through a magnifying glass, and then focused on a specific point,
it can easily burn a piece of paper or wood. The same amount of energy that in one instance could only produce a very slight increase in temperature, when focused can start a fire.
One major time management challenge we are facing today is that there are more things available for us to do than anyone could possibly attempt, let alone accomplish, in an entire lifetime. If we are not careful, it is very easy to diffuse our time and energy with many different trivial pursuits, aimless distractions, and general busyness.
Goals provide a way to focus and concentrate your time and energy into carefully chosen targets that are designed to make significant positive impacts in your life.
6) Goals give you a roadmap and action plan
One of the best ways to deal with large or overwhelming projects is to break them up into a series of intermediate achievable steps and get to work on each piece one by one. As Brian Tracy likes to say, "By the yard it's hard, but inch by inch it's a cinch!"
That's why the Action Planning aspect of goals can help you escape from overwhelm and actually get started on your most important projects and goals.
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