Organization and Goals

How to break down and organize the goals you set

I am really big on organization; I literally have a list for everything. But I get that not everyone is the same and for that reason I have broken up this post into different levels of organization that you can follow based on what you’re comfortable with. I’ll relate this specifically to setting goals, but this can be used in whatever way you prefer.

For me, this is about a way to keep track of where you’re going and measure productivity. In life it can be easy to lose track of what you’re trying to do or feel like you’re not accomplishing anything day to day. This is my way of combating that. If I organize things, I can clearly see what I’m doing and ensure that I’m moving in a positive direction.

Level 1: Month

This is the broadest level you can organize on. Basically, this is what you need, or want, to do every month. Write out, and I mean physically write or type out, the things that you will feel accomplished about doing when you look back once the month is over.

This way, twelve times a year you can get a check on your life and the progress you’re making.

Level 2: Week

If you want to take it a step further, write out the things you want to do each week. This is also a good time to break down a more challenging monthly goal into smaller, more manageable bits. This is a good middle ground to make sure you’re on the right track for the month and your life in general.

A more frequent measure but also gives you a whole seven days to do what you need to and it’s up to you how you break things up in that time span.

Level 3: Day

If you want to go even further, move to the day level. Write the things about your life you want to do every day. Maybe this is a further break up of your week, or not, it’s completely up to you how rigid you make this.

Note: When you make this list, make sure to avoid anything work related. This will help keep a work life balance as well as let you focus on the things outside of work.

But no matter what, leave room for flexibility and understand that things can come up or change and you might not be able to finish everything.

Personally, this is the level I’m on, because I just like having lists. They are my method of keeping track of what I need to get done. But again, for those who think this is too much, all of this is meant to personalized to you and you decide how you want to implement it.

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No matter what level of organization you choose, make sure to write it down. What I mean is, at the end of each day, or week, or month, write down the things that you have accomplished. And I don’t just mean checking off the goals you did, but also anything else that may have come up that wasn’t on your list. Write it down and take a moment to see and reflect, upon the day or week or month, of all the things you have done. It will help you feel more productive.

Overall, the main points are:

•   Setting a goal requires some method of organization to follow through
•  Level 1: broadest level, set goals/things you want to do for each month
•  Level 2: middle level, set goals/things you want to do for each week (potentially       breaking up one of the monthly items)
•   Level 3: smallest level, set goals/things you want to do each day (potentially   breaking up the week farther)
•   For Level 3, leave room for flexibility and don’t include anything work related
•  All of this is as rigid or flexible as you want it to be
•  Notate your life by writing the things you’ve done, each month or week or day, so   you can look back and physically see the direction you’re moving in and the   progress you’re making.

So, there you have it, a little guide to organization on a broad scale. How you actually implement any of these things, lists, calendar notifications, on paper or on your phone, is completely up to you.

Personally, I bullet journal my month, and use lists on my phone to break up my week and day. I also bullet journal to notate my day each night. 

I also have post on setting Different Kinds of Goals if you want to get an idea of where to start! 

And with that, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I hope that you were able to learn something new from this!

I’ll see you in the next one :)