Goals and Ideas

My latest addiction - Homeland.

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Do you watch this?  It's on OnDemand right now and OMG it is eclipsing everything else for me.  I found myself thanking my lucky stars that I don't start grad school until January; for now I have "extra" time to devote to Carrie and her neuroses.  The beginning of the show is saucy (maybe writers/networks feel that they have to use sex to draw in watchers?) but that part of things calms down and the plot is amazing; as is the acting; as is the dialogue and action.

And of course there is the latest season of this:

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Anyhoo.

Here's a Type A topic for you.  Do you set goals?  It recently occurred to me that I have set weekly/monthly goals for myself ever since I graduate college and got married.  And when you think of it, that's an awfully long time. 

I'm not one of those people who is lost without them (or am I?), but having set goals helps me to stay focused on things I want to do outside of work, and to purposefully devote attention and creativity to my personal life.  It is very easy for me to get frazzled by the workweek and just want to collapse at the end of a long day.  And let's face it, all days are long days.  Keeping an ongoing goal list helps me accomplish personal things at almost the same rate that I accomplish work, so that I can assure myself that my identity and purpose exist outside of my job.  Does that make sense?  I keep weekly and monthly goals listed in my phone, and try to schedule in a few every week, so that I can stay on target.

My weekly/monthly goals typically include stuff like:

*  home improvement tasks
*  exercise goals
*  seasonal goals (such as planning a fall brunch or taking fall drives)
*  specific work goals
*  "personal fulfillment/plan for the future" goals (such as volunteering, donating, or things like grad school)
*  health goals (such as drinking more water, or scheduling a dental checkup)
*  trying new things (weekend adventures, restaurants, Supper Club, TV recommendations)

By the end of the week and/or month, I have typically accomplished most of what was on my list.  Anything that remains either gets pushed into a future week/month, or disregarded.  I try to stay flexible because the main goal is to progress, to always move forward.  It is not to stress myself out just to mark everything off the list.  Having an ongoing list helps me to make progress, slowly but surely, on things that are important to me.  And splitting up tasks into just a few every week/month keeps them from feeling overwhelming or daunting.

There are many weeks, depending on my work load and stress level, when I have completed most of the weekly goals by, say, Tuesday.  Which means I can "veg" after work on the other days without feeling "guilty" or unproductive.  This usually means that my goals were smaller tasks such as: research student loans, cook 2 recipes for lunches/dinners, schedule lawn service.  Easy peesy, but still important, stuff.

There are other weeks when my goals may include only two or three items - maybe they are three tasks such as painting a room, meeting a new friend for dinner after work, and going in for a yearly checkup with the doctor.  Because those goals are time-consuming to me, when combined with a full work week that also involves exercising, I only "commit" myself to a couple of them.

My monthly goals currently go out a year from now and already include (crossing fingers) 2014's big vacation.  I know it can seem like this would be planning my life away, but instead I find it incredibly liberating.  To me, it means I am continually working towards goals that I have assigned to myself because I would like to achieve them, not because any external force inflicted them on me.  It also keeps me very hopeful for the future, as it is already "full" of stuff I want to do. 

Do I always achieve everything?  No.  Does that matter?  No.

On the other hand, I also keep a list of ideas in my phone and in a nifty little notebook.

Keeping an idea list helps me get random thoughts out of my head and onto paper so that I can focus and avoid feeling overwhelmed.  These things are the NBD little stuff that I just don't want to forget or lose track of, like:

*  post ideas (!)
*  books
*  movies
*  music
*  quotes
*  picture ideas
*  gift ideas for peeps (stuff I randomly come across and don't want to forget)

I carry this notebook around in my purse and look through it when I need a little inspiration.

How do you keep track of personal goals and progress?  Do you feel that's something you even have to keep track of, or do you manage to work it into your life automatically?