goal setting producitivyt
Goal Setting:
- Divide your goals into specific areas of life (school, finances, career, health, hobbies, and personal development)
- Write out your goals as specifically as you can with numerical values and timelines (ex. I want an “A” in X class this semester, I want to participate in X activity 2 times a week, I want to make X amount of money by X date).
- Create a general action plan/write out the habits you need to practice every day/week to make these goals achievable (ex. I will study and review my notes for at least 30 minutes per night in X subject). To-Do List Planning:
- Spend an hour or so on the weekend to list all of the important school assignments/errands, etc. you need to complete during the week. Fill your calendar with your school/work/activity obligations first see an overview of how you will need to spend a considerable amount of time dedicated to each non-negotiable activity. Use this overview to help you map out the “free” time” you have and pre-schedule when you will do specific assignments, study for a particular exam, when you will run certain errands, engage in leisure activities, etc.
- Before bed/dinner, use this weekly framework to finalize the next day – your agenda for the upcoming day. Determine the big 1-3 tasks you want to complete the following day and when throughout your day you will focus on these specific tasks. Giving yourself this pre-assigned schedule will eliminate decision fatigue and allow you to go into a more “autopilot” mode by completing the action you’ve already planned to take at any time of the day. Important Date Reminders:
- Utilize your Google Calendar and sync it to your iCloud (make sure it’s private!) to allow you to write down any important dates available for viewing on your phone, computer, etc. at all times.
- Create a color-coding system to organize your calendar (i.e. make any essays due in blue, homework assignments to complete in red, important job reminders in yellow, babysitting tasks in green, family/friend obligations in purple, appointments in orange, etc.)
- If you need to remember to submit certain paperwork, run an errand, etc., use your Reminders app to alert you at the time when you’re able to complete this task before a deadline, going home, etc.
- Use the location function or invite other participating members on a specific Google calendar event for any obligations where you need to be at a certain place at a specific time and/or are working on a group project, having a meeting, or need to be at a location with someone else.
Anticipation is Key
- Always have a plan with the tasks and timetable laid out
- Keep your environment free of distractions (or at least out of reach)
- Tackle tasks in bite-sized amounts to gain momentum
- Restrict time spent to maximize productivity
- Remember the big picture (and reward yourself!) Always have a plan with the tasks and timetable laid out: Plan out what you need to do, the deadline (or scheduled date/time), and set a date with yourself to complete the task. For work, always have a planner where you can plan out your week with your large/small projects. Break large projects down into phases (ex. sections of a presentation, separate excel sheets, pages of a book, word count on an article, etc.). Divide these phases into sections that never take more than 1-2 hours. Only commit yourself to do one section at a time (if possible, only one per day). This allows you to have less anxiety about starting the task because you already have half of the work – the game plan – done for you. With smaller tasks, divide them into important, urgent, and less important or urgent. Batch all of the urgent ones to clear your mind. Only commit to one important small task at a time (ex. an important email). Take a short break (get a glass of water, go to the bathroom, etc. ) in-between small important tasks to take the pressure off and your mind clear. Keep a running list of less important/urgent tasks. Schedule a time to batch these once a day/a couple of times a week as needed. With chores or errands, make a schedule for when you will do these tasks to ensure you stick to your routine (ex. full-house vacuuming Tuesday and Saturday, laundry and grocery restock Sunday, deep kitchen clean Monday, big drugstore hauls Wednesday, etc.) Keep your environment free of distractions (or at least out of reach): Get in the zone. Keep your phone out of sight while working (unless you use your phone to work or you’re on the phone for a work call, of course). Use a focus playlist (I love the EDM instrumental study playlist or any of the ADHD playlists by Jason Lewis - Mind Amend on Youtube. My favorite one is linked HERE). Have a glass of water (and coffee or tea if you choose), tissues, and lip balm in arm’s reach, so you don’t have to get up and break focus for these menial tasks. When cleaning or exercising, always have a curated playlist ready to go. Tackle tasks in bite-sized amounts to gain momentum: Use the two-minute rule. If you can do a task in 2 minutes or less, do it immediately – within a minute of thinking of it (or set a reminder for when you’re home to do the task and then do it immediately. The 5-Second Rule and Atomic Habits explain why this works so well). Only force yourself to do a task for 10 minutes. Stop after this allocated time if you can’t stand doing it anymore, feel drained, or continuously lose focus. Your body and mind need rest if this happens. Usually, though, once you start writing, cleaning, reading, etc. for at least 10 minutes, you’ll continue doing it for more time until at least 30-60 minutes of work is completed. Read Atomic Habits and The Artist’s Way to learn more about this. The Pomodoro Technique (working in 25-minute blocks with 5-minute breaks in-between) is great for clearing your inbox, organizing an Excel sheet, or completing any other repetitive, monotonous, or administrative tasks). Restrict time spent to maximize productivity: Focus and productivity are mental muscles. So, like in the gym, use time over tension. Set a timer for 10, 20, 30, or 60 minutes – depending on the task and your level of energy – and see how much focused, uninterrupted work you can do within this timeframe. This exercise can gamify otherwise boring, overwhelming, or tedious tasks and help them take less time overall. Rinse and repeat this practice like doing sets at the gym until you’ve completed the task or the amount of the project you decided to get done for the day. Remember the big picture (and reward yourself!) Always keep your goals top of mind. Revise them daily in the morning like a form of daily affirmations. Visualize yourself working to achieve this goal (sitting at the computer typing, cleaning, working out, etc.) with ease. Picture yourself in a calm state and that you’re in a constant flow state. Visualize the moment of achievement. Relish in the feeling of satisfaction to prime yourself to start the task. Remind yourself that doing this one task gets you a bit closer to this bliss point. Make each goal into a source of emotional edging – each task will get you closer and closer to this euphoric state of contentment. This exercise primes you with some motivation and positive energy to get your head in the game. Create habit loops – a cue to start the task (i.e. getting a glass of water to bring to the computer) and an unwinding task (aka the reward – ex. going on your daily walk, taking a shower, etc.). Sometimes, I use different styles of music as a cue and a reward to create my habit loop (aka an upbeat pop playlist before starting work and a dance party mix after work). Read The Power of Habit to learn more about this practice. Remind yourself that time passes anyway, so you might as well spend this time doing the task rather than worrying about it for hours. Plan a reward (calling a friend, making your favorite meal, going out for a walk or dinner) for when you’re done. Having this event to look forward to will help motivate you to focus and work efficiently so you can fast-forward to your moments of leisure. Claim and master your day, loves xx • Work with your circumstances. Do not fight against something you cannot change. Make your environment work for you. It’s just a matter of not waiting. Learn to wrap up your day - Meaning make a habit of shutting down your computer everyday. This forces you to wrap up items you are in progress of and helps you to keep track of them. It also feels good to be able to start your day fresh. So I would first ask your professors to be my mentor. Mentorship doesn’t mean you guys formally stamp and seal an MoU, it could even mean that you approach them for help and they oblige. Build a connection with that professor that is strong enough to ask them to connect you to more people. You could even reach out to your college counsellors for help. Now, how you go about it.
- You make a list of “needs.” What are you lacking right now? Where do you need help?
- go over your list, let’s say you have 10 items. Who can help solve these issues? Maybe you look at a line item and think, oh, professor X could help me out with that.
- you go to professor X or you write them a nice email, ask them for help with that issue or to connect you with someone who can help you with that.
- if they decide to help you themselves, set up a meeting, be 5 minutes early, be mindful of their time. Your job is to listen actively. Take notes of the advice they give you.
- how do you create a follow up? “Hi professor, I took note of what you said. Here is how they’re coming along. Could I tell you more in person, as per your availability?” if your professor rejects you or doesn’t have the time, ask them if there’s someone else they think you could reach out to. Try to walk away from the meeting with at least something in your hands. If they say no? Then drop it and move on, don’t dwell on it. Find the next person. Finding a mentor is a lot like dating. You really have to look for compatibility. …..and then you repeat this with your entire list of needs. Don’t do too many things at once. Don’t solve your 10 issues in one go, it will overload and you will burn out. Start with one at a time.
- Learn to associate. When someone tells you that they work in XYZ company, in B city, start by connecting things in your head. Who else do you know works in the same field, could they know each other? What do you know about the work that they do, and if you don’t know much, can you find out more? Most people, including myself, love to talk about what we do at work and what our job entails. Has their work allowed them to travel a lot? If yes, where? In order to associate, you need to read a lot and learn a lot. You have to understand what’s happening in the world, what the latest news is, because how the hell are you going to continue that conversation?
- You have to snowball the conversation. The goal is to try and understand WHO this person is. If someone asks you, have you met CSB and you have, you should be able to say yes, this is what she’s interested in, this is what she works in - you should be able to pitch CSB to another person. Not every single conversation has to be valuable. You also have to decide whether the person in front of you is worth your time.
- Exchange numbers, not social media. Nothing is going to come out of exchanging instagram or LinkedIn.
- When you’re leaving the event, look for the person you met and tell them that you’re leaving and that you guys should catch up sometime. If you haven’t exchanged contact info yet, that’s the best way to do it. “Oh let’s catch up again soon! Can I have your number? We can grab a coffee or drink whenever.”
- Scratch each other’s backs. You can’t just get value from the other person, provide them with the same. It doesn’t have to be work related. Let’s say the person you’ve connected with is interested in indie music and you learn that an indie band is playing somewhere - send them a link to the event and tell them that you remembered that they like this genre, and you just wanted to share the info.
- What’s important to learn is maintaining relationships. I reach out to all my mentors, all my latest connections once a month. That doesn’t mean that I’m necessarily going to meet them face to face, but I just check in and ask how things are going. I make a list before any social event, be it a conference, a new friend’s dinner party, etc. I write down: