Tag Archive for: goal setting

How Goals, Calendar and Schedule Alignment Work for You

How goals, calendars and schedule alignment works for you

 

Tire alignment, also known as wheel alignment, can help your tires perform properly and help them last longer. It can also improve handling and keep your vehicle from pulling in one direction or vibrating strangely.  

 

It’s clear that tire alignment helps you save money and time.  How might alignment work for us when we are talking about productivity?  When your goals, calendar and schedule are aligned, it helps you with your performance.  That performance is getting tasks and projects completed with less stress and more joy.  When your life is in alignment, you are feeling the bonus of work life integration.  Just how do we accomplish alignment when our life seems out of kilter?

 

Check your goals first

Review your current calendar to align your goals and your actions. Is what’s on your current calender reflecting your annual or quarterly goals?  Do you see a direct connection to what your responsibilities are each month and week?  Are there times for self care and relationship building?  Knowing how close you are already to alignment will be a guidepost for you.

Write out your best week

As you look over your calendar, you may be dismayed to see disjointed and disconnected dates and activities.  Take a whole new look at your week with a best week calendar. Michael Hyatt refers to this as your “ideal week.”  This is setting yourself up for success to know what this looks like.  With a blank calendar start with filling in what are your priorities.  Parallel your plans with consistent routines for similar activities.  That would be exercising every morning at 6 am, working with clients starting every day at 10 am, and hosting meetings at 2 pm.  See what new awareness comes from this exercise.

It’s going to take time to get your best week aligned with your current week so start small. What tweaks can you put in place?  Where are there options to create alignment? What if you have no control over your goals, deadlines or tasks?  Here’s where to talk to your team and seek out solutions together.

 

Keep aware of where alignment can occur

Changes are naturally occurring on a regular basis. A client ends, a new project starts, or a new boss comes on the scene.  When you seek improved alignment, that’s when you take advantage of a shift.   Look for where new possibilities are happening. Let’s say your 10 am Monday meeting shifts to 2 pm on Tuesday.  Now you can place your high quality work on Monday mornings instead.  Another option is to schedule shorter more frequent meetings at a lower energy time.

 

Is perfect alignment possible?

There is not necessarily that you are seeking perfect alignment as there are changes occuring regularly. What you are working toward is every improving alignment for yourself. There’s also random tasks, especially administrative tasks, that are part of your week.   If you can batch adminstrative tasks to be more productive about these.

 

Remember that for tire alignment, a periodic check is required.  Use your Strategic Planning to continually assess your goals, and then assess your alignment. What you will find as the most powerful benefit is that you are feeling more on top of your goals as a result.

 

 

Setting your goals for the new year

 

goal setting

 

Each new year we see the opportunity to refresh, revitalize, resolve and renew. Our goals are the road map we follow for the year. We determine what is most important to us and what we will honor as our priorities. Start the year off spending time strategizing and writing what will be your focus in personal, professional, spiritual, wellness, family and other goals this year.

 

• Write down your goals, being very specific.

The more detail you have written down, the more you have made the goal a reality. Keep your goals in view each and every day.

 

• List the benefits and the obstacles.

The big question is why? What will be the worth of this accomplishment? What challenges will you encountered? Write these down so you know your reasons and rationale for your goals as well as your stumbling blocks.

• Make yourself accountable with deadlines.

Set a date you want to complete the goal and each step along the way.  It’s the ways we are accountable that help the most.

 

• Create a team

Write a list of resources, groups and people to contact who will assist if you ask them.

• Plan your work and work your plan

Create a plan with baby steps along the way that include every day actions. Strategize and list activities that take just 15 minutes a day to make your goal a reality. Make a personal commitment to act on your goals, live up to that commitment every day, and visualize yourself succeeding with this goal. Be sure your time and calendar reflect your commitment and advancement to your goal.

 

You will see with each baby step a move forward!  Keep on moving forward and you have accomplished your goal.