There have been many times where I have sat to make a daily to-do list and somewhat mindlessly added a list of tasks, with no real sense of what these tasks would result in on a daily basis. I blame this partially on the structure of my planner. It has a calendar and blank note pages, but I needed something more to keep my tasks in order.
Working with a client recently, I noticed that I am not the only one with this problem. We were quickly able to establish broad goals and deadlines – revise an article by the end of November, develop the introduction for a book proposal in one week – but I realized that these larger goals did not translate well into daily goals. So, I looked for a solution.
I am a great fan of Kerry Ann Rockquemore’s Sunday meeting . The process of setting semester goals that you can bring to your weekly calendar is a sure way to stay on track. In order to achieve semester goals, however, we also need to develop weekly and daily goals. That’s where the weekly goals template comes in.
Imagine that your goal is to complete revisions on an article in the next month, as was the case with my client. In order for her to achieve that, she had to figure out what that process of revisions would look like on a daily basis. At first, her daily tasks were vague. They included action items like “work on article for 45 minutes” or “rewrite introduction.” Well, what is going to be accomplished in those 45 minutes? How long would it take to rewrite the introduction? More precision was needed. In order to be more clear, we divided her to-do list into three sections: “Goals,” “Tasks,” and “Outcomes.” These sections form the structure for the weekly goals template. Establish a goal (or goals) for the day, and then determine the tasks necessary to achieve that goal. Finally, at the end of the day, review your progress. Did you achieve your goal? If not, what else needs to be done? These are the tasks that you will carry over to the next day.
Organizing your work like this brings more clarity to your tasks. If you intend to revise your introduction, do you need to rewrite your thesis statement, or change the framing? How long will that take? Or conversely, if you only have 45 minutes to work on your article, what can you accomplish? This system will help you keep track of your progress and also push you to be realistic about what you can accomplish in any given amount of time.
The template that I designed (which you can download for free!) is quite simple. For each day, you have goals, tasks, and outcomes – in that order. You can fill it all in at the beginning of the week, and use the end of each day to assess your progress. You might decide to use the template for one specific project, or for everything you hope to achieve in a week. It’s up to you! I like to use it in conjunction with my planner, so I can schedule the tasks I decide on. The template is purposefully simple and that’s the beauty of it – you can adapt it to your own preferences. Set achievable goals, and congratulate yourself when you accomplish them.
Working with a client recently, I noticed that I am not the only one with this problem. We were quickly able to establish broad goals and deadlines – revise an article by the end of November, develop the introduction for a book proposal in one week – but I realized that these larger goals did not translate well into daily goals. So, I looked for a solution.
I am a great fan of Kerry Ann Rockquemore’s Sunday meeting . The process of setting semester goals that you can bring to your weekly calendar is a sure way to stay on track. In order to achieve semester goals, however, we also need to develop weekly and daily goals. That’s where the weekly goals template comes in.
Imagine that your goal is to complete revisions on an article in the next month, as was the case with my client. In order for her to achieve that, she had to figure out what that process of revisions would look like on a daily basis. At first, her daily tasks were vague. They included action items like “work on article for 45 minutes” or “rewrite introduction.” Well, what is going to be accomplished in those 45 minutes? How long would it take to rewrite the introduction? More precision was needed. In order to be more clear, we divided her to-do list into three sections: “Goals,” “Tasks,” and “Outcomes.” These sections form the structure for the weekly goals template. Establish a goal (or goals) for the day, and then determine the tasks necessary to achieve that goal. Finally, at the end of the day, review your progress. Did you achieve your goal? If not, what else needs to be done? These are the tasks that you will carry over to the next day.
Organizing your work like this brings more clarity to your tasks. If you intend to revise your introduction, do you need to rewrite your thesis statement, or change the framing? How long will that take? Or conversely, if you only have 45 minutes to work on your article, what can you accomplish? This system will help you keep track of your progress and also push you to be realistic about what you can accomplish in any given amount of time.
The template that I designed (which you can download for free!) is quite simple. For each day, you have goals, tasks, and outcomes – in that order. You can fill it all in at the beginning of the week, and use the end of each day to assess your progress. You might decide to use the template for one specific project, or for everything you hope to achieve in a week. It’s up to you! I like to use it in conjunction with my planner, so I can schedule the tasks I decide on. The template is purposefully simple and that’s the beauty of it – you can adapt it to your own preferences. Set achievable goals, and congratulate yourself when you accomplish them.
| weekly_goals_template.pdf |
