Goal Setting For Increased Productivity

Yesterday, I began to keep a log or diary of my activities. This diary is slightly different, since I jot down the activities before I carry them out instead of after. Therefore, when I reach home after work, I filled in the activities I wished to complete by the day in an Excel spreadsheet. It’s basically just a few basic columns stating the activity and whether the task has been completed. However, the psychological effect is clearly noticeable as I sped through the 2 tasks that I planned for and completed them in less than an hour. Normally, I used to take around 3 hours and wander around to other websites, not focusing on the task at all.

I’m now using a backward planning process to come up with my daily activities, meaning I focus on my longest-term goal, then move backwards to plan my shorter term goals. Finally, from these goals, I come up with the daily activities that I think will bring me to my goals and everything just seems more focused this way. Instead of doing things without a purpose, I’m now beginning to get myself to begin with the end in mind, one of the seven habits of highly effective people. Of course, for a start, I kept things as simple as possible with just simple tasks to complete. Otherwise, I might just decide it’s too tough and throw away the plan… definitely not the scenario I want.

For now… I do see the benefits of setting goals for additional motivation and focus. Without setting goals, activities will seem mundane and I might give up working towards what I want faster than I can blink an eye. Thinking about it, there was a short period of time when I used to set goals for myself, but I only set monthly goals then. For that 3 months, I managed to hit my goals and it was extremely satisfying. Thereafter, I failed to meet one of my goals and stopped goal setting altogether. Stupid move when I think back… I may not have met my goals, but I’m definitely better off than if I didn’t set any in the first place.

This blog is a manifestation of my long term goal and the best evidence to show my eventual commitment to reaching it. Many super achievers publicize their goals and make it a must to achieve them, such as Robert Allen, who set extreme public challenges on National Television. There are other marketers that take pre-orders for products, making it a must for them to come up with their products by certain dates. For myself, my method is just having a simple blog and making my intentions known. I believe that the power of more people knowing an intention will magically increase the chances of it coming true.

In short, I sum up with two main points.
Firstly, I think goal setting is imperative.
Secondly, I believe that goals should be made known.

Let’s see how closely I will follow my goals this time.