The 7 Most Effective Time Management Tips: 5 Ways to Set Your Goals Right

Tip #1: 5 Ways to Set Your Goals Right

It's been over a week without a post- I know! I could bring a tonne of trashy and meaningless excuses to the table for not being able to write a helpful blog for you lot, but the fact is that I just could not get my head around things. There is so much going on in my life at the moment that I cannot explain. Even if I was to, I know you'll all be nodding off straight away.

I have no intention to bore you all...

 I bet everyone's life is busy and mine is no exception. It's a complete and utter chaos. But what I realise now is that I need to stop complaining about the lack of time and get my priorities right. There is an intense need in my life to learn to manage my time effectively, and the sooner I do it, the better for me. After all, there are only 24 hours in a day and none of us is getting any more than that, right?

So, I spent the last week researching all the different ways in which we all can make the most of our time. I wish I had done this sooner. They seem to be so effective and they actually work- yes, they DO!!!

I've noticed such a big difference in myself and how I do things within just a week, so I thought it would be a good idea if the next series of my blog posts here would be all about time management. Unlike most of my posts that are aimed at freelance writers, these will be generally for anyone. You can use of these simple time management tips and make those 24 hours work for you, and around you. I will give examples from my personal experiences and talk about how I embed these tips in my life throughout the next series of articles here.

Be Prepared!

 

The most important key to manage time is to be prepared well ahead of time. Benjamin Franklin says:


"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."


I could not agree more! If you are not ready for something, you are likely to fail. That is why it is so important that you set goals in life and in your career. By goals I mean realistic, achievable goals. Having no goals means you are heading ahead like a headless chicken. There is no clear focus on what you want to achieve. You know your goal and there- you'll have a plan of action in place automatically.


Take back control of your life and your career! Set clear and SMART goals. Know what you want to achieve and how to achieve. If you are a freelance writer and you have any on going writing projects, set up your working hours and give yourself deadlines to finish those well ahead of the 'actual' deadlines. Set up milestones to stay on track while making progress. Bear with me. I will explain how.

The Process of Setting Goals

You read that correctly- setting goals is a process. It is not that you just think of doing something and it just happens- there is a proper 'planning procedure' involved to do it. Think of what you want to achieve and break it down in steps that will need to be followed to get to your final destination.


1. Get SMART with Your Goals

Your goals must be SMART, that is, they should be:

• Specific: Define your goals well. Do not have generalized or non-specific goals like 'write a book'. Define how you will do it, where and when will you do it, what book you will write etc. This will give you a clear direction of where to head next. Generalized goals are often too vague to follow. Think of it this way: you want to visit your friend and all you know is that he/she lives in the UK? Where in the UK? What county/ post code? What city/town/village? What street? What house number? Do you think you'll ever get to meet your friend at his/her house without all this information? Definitely NOT!

• Measurable: Keep your goals measurable by defining how much and when. As with the above example of writing a book, define how much of the book will you write and when. Also, if you are visiting your friend, you need to know what date and time you are getting there. You just can't show up one morning and say 'Hello!'. Can you? What if your friend is not in then?

• Attainable: It is okay to be ambitious but do not be overly zealous with your goals. Keep your targets achievable. You may challenge yourself a bit and asking yourself to do something that you already know you can't is just not right. So, having a goal to finish a 50,000 words novel in a day is an unachievable goal, for me, at least. I know that and I won't set it as my goal for today.

Even if I manage to write those 50k somehow, which I am pretty sure I won't, I will be doing no good to myself. I will be working non-stop, getting no sleep, not eating properly, ignoring my home and kids, and the list goes on.... My work will eventually show all of it and I will end up with nothing but depression and frustration. Would it all be worth it at the end of the day? NO!

• Relevant: Keep your goals relevant to you and your career. They should be planned around your long-term plans, for example 'writing up to 2500-3000 of my novel after the kids go to bed everyday' would be a part of my big long-term plan to 'write a 50,000 words romance novel within the next 6 months'. I know it is personal to me and my career. It is perfectly achievable and would work well around my family and schedule if I stick to the plan. Having goals that are far too ambitious, unclear and dispersed are often unachievable. What if I made a goal to learn to play hockey within a week? I have never had any interest in the sport, have hardly ever watched a hockey match right to the end, never seen or felt a real hockey stick in my life. What do you think my chances of achieving such a goal are? Nil- Zero!

• Timely: Attainable goals have defined time limits and deadlines. You set several milestones and tick them off as you pursue your final goal. You plan things to get your work done well before deadlines. If you don't and put off things to the last minute, you end up being overworked and stressed. When you having to do too much in a limited time frame, the chances of missing the deadlines are high. In many cases, even with writing assignments and projects, we are at a high risk of losing valuable clients and/or not being appreciated or paid for the work we did. There are exceptions f course, but only if you are lucky enough!

2. Make Sure That Your Goals are for YOU Alone

Set up goals that matter to you. As a passionate writer, my goal is to get as much writing done in a day as possible. I could do that 12 hours straight, but I know for a fact that it just won't work. I have other priorities too as a mum and a housewife, but that also does not mean I will spend 12 hours just shopping around or cleaning the house or cooking food for the family either. That would be a goal for the people around me and not for myself.

What I am trying to say is that when your goals do not mean anything to you, they are not as important to you. If they are not important for you personally, it is very unlikely you will achieve such goals. Even if you do, you will not enjoy achieving them and you won't find a value in achieving them either. 12 hours gone for what?

3. Get Your Priorities Right

 Would it not be better if we created a list of all the important things that need to be done in a day and divided all the available hours, as need be, among those chores? We have to learn manage to manage our time effectively and do things that mean to the most to us. The rest can wait.

Talking of the example above again, while I agree cooking and cleaning is important and must be done, spending 12 hours for these chores isn't worth it unless you suffer from OCD syndrome. I'd say 2-3 hours a day is just about right for me but any more than this and I will have little to no interest in the outcome. After all, in my case, I know that a house with little kids lurking around won't stay spotless and I certainly cannot afford cleaning it all the time. There are better things to do for me such as spending quality time with my kids and not to miss- WRITING!

You may set your priorities around your routine. I appreciate everyone is different and for some cleaning the house may come before anything else.


Your goals should be priorities. If they aren't, you end trying to achieve too many goals- the goals that are of little or no personal interest to you.

4. Jot Them Down

I get it! You have a plan in your head and you follow it but trust me - putting it down is a hundred times better. It may seem like an extra effort to write it all down but positive goals with statements like: "I will write 50,000 words of my novel by 20th October" help more than those that suggest: "I might write 50,000 words by the end of the year". The 'definite' and 'positive' statements put down in front of you in your office, fridge, laptop or anywhere 'in sight' within your working space keep reminding you of your task ahead and you actually make a mental note to 'DO IT' as long as it is an attainable goal that you have set.

5. Create a Plan for Action

What even works better for most of us is to make lists and create milestones to get to your final goal than just jot down the final goal. Put those lists where you can see them everyday and cross out each milestone one as you progress and the next thing on your to-do list will seem so much easier for you. These lists also help you stay focused and on-track. Think of it like a road map to lead you to your final destination.

Do not forget to celebrate your success once you achieve each milestone by rewarding yourself with something sweet, a cup of tea or coffee, a walk or anything that makes you feel good.