Easy Time Tracking - Articles: Is the Goal to Reach the Goal?

In this fast and crazy world, we want to multi-task at every given moment. After all, how else can we accomplish all that needs to be done in only 24 hours? We've been taught that if we reach all of our goals in a day, week, month, or year, we are successful. What we haven't been taught when achieving goals is that quality counts and so does the amount of effort exerted.

Our tendency is to set many goals especially at work for any given day or week, and then we feel discouraged or disappointed when we don't achieve all of them. In fact, we usually have to carry them over to the next day or the next week. The first step in feeling a sense of accomplishment and completion is to set only 3 goals for a day, for a week, for a month that HAVE to be accomplished. Why only 3? In an average day, we can't anticipate all of the other things that will snag our attention. We get called into a meeting, we get a time-consuming phone call, we get a request that requires some searching, we notice an article of interest that we want to read, etc. If we don't allow for these other time-consuming things, then we're not being realistic about what we can accomplish in a day. Same goes for a month ? unexpected family situations, travel, illness, new projects, etc.

So, how do we accomplish 3 goals in a day and accomplish them well with little effort? It's better known as focus and undivided attention. The keyword is undivided ? our attention remains TOTALLY on the task at hand. The distractions, the pulls, the unimportant but more interesting, don't take us away from what needs to be done at that moment. If you attend to the task in front of you and don't allow the distractions to interfere, you will notice how effortlessly the task is accomplished. Even if it's something you have been putting off and dreading ? just simply setting aside the time and concentrating on it, will result in one less thing on your plate. Ironically, the more attention you give it and the more focused you are on the task at hand, the less you will feel any effort in its completion. If you allow any of the distractions to interfere and you believe you are multi-tasking, what you are really doing is flitting between many different things and not giving any one thing your undivided attention. The result: a little of this and a little of that gets done with mediocre quality and it feels as though a lot of effort is needed.

Invitation to Experiment: Set 3 or more goals for any given day, for a week, for a month of which 3 HAVE to be accomplished. That may mean letting the answering machine pick up, turning off the cell phone and Instant Messaging, going to another desk or conference room. Totally focus your attention on one thing at a time and notice how they are accomplished ? and see if it feels any different than it usually does.

Marion Franklin - is a Professional Certified Life Coach who coaches individuals and groups regarding personal and professional change, focus, human relations, and conflict management. Marion has coached managers at major corporations including PepsiCo, Toys'R'Us, and Reader's Digest. She conducts and help clients design workshops and presentations, has been a featured presenter at meetings, retreats, and an ongoing Women's Workshop Series, has been cited in The Journal News and The Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on local Cable Television.

Articles

Living Life In A Time Starved World
Recently I saw an advertisement for a time management booklet: "Shorter deadlines, competing priorities, endless meetings, interruptions and even higher quality expectations are just some of today's time challenges. And yet the number of hours in the day remains the same." read more...

Time Mastery vs. Time Management - Knowing the Difference
How much time do you spend on Mastering Your Time? I don't mean managing time. There is quite a difference between managing and mastering your use of time. The goal of managing your time is to be more efficient, to squeeze more productivity out of your day. There are a lot of benefits to being a good time manager, especially in a rushed and frenetically paced culture. read more...

Is the Goal to Reach the Goal?
In this fast and crazy world, we want to multi-task at every given moment. After all, how else can we accomplish all that needs to be done in only 24 hours? We've been taught that if we reach all of our goals in a day, week, month, or year, we are successful. What we haven't been taught when achieving goals is that quality counts and so does the amount of effort exerted. read more...

Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life
Many of us have an image of personal balance as a set of scales in perfect balance every day. But that's an unrealistic goal. You are in for a lot of frustration if you try to allocate within every day a predetermined portion of time for work, family and your social life. An illness may upset all your plans. A business project may demand peaks of intense work, followed by valleys of slow time. read more...

Use Your Time Wisely!
When I was small, I have never considered the importance of time. I would just laze around, watch TV, lie in bed, and play video games. As I grew older, I thought about the things that I have achieved. To my surprise, I haven't accomplished a lot. read more...

Schedule Time for Interruption
One of the most challenging situations people face when planning their day is how to stick to their schedule when they are constantly being interrupted. Just when your activities are organized, someone else's emergency seems to get in the way. A client has a crisis, co-workers are in a jam, your boss is breathing down your neck, a friend calls, or any of the dozens of other interruptions you face on any given day. read more...

Control Your Time
"I bet I could have cut back on many of the seventy, eighty, and ninety-hour weeks that I've put in over the years, if I'd been more systematic and rigorous in managing time!" read more...

Managing Your Time
Perhaps the greatest single problem that people have today is “time poverty.” Working people have too much to do and too little time for their personal lives. Most people feel overwhelmed with responsibilities and activities, and the harder they work, the further behind they feel. read more...

The Secret of Time Management Revealed
Life is full of urgencies that really don't make any difference in the long run (or even in the short run, for that matter). Yes, you're four minutes late for that department meeting. read more...

Management Tips

Whats Keeping You At The Office (9 Tips To Get Home Quicker)
"Work smarter, not harder" is a cliche that has darted in and out of the workplace for years. But it's still as true as ever. And it's often overlooked advice that truly works. "Working smarter" means think strategically about how to improve your productivity. read more...

Time Management Tips
To achieve maximum success and productivity in the work place it is essential that we understand how we use our time at work. Like many things in life, we take time for granted and give little thought to it until we no longer have enough of it. read more...

Time Management? No!
Many people want to be coached to manage their time better. I say NO! to that. You cannot manage time anyway; it just keeps ticking away no matter what you do. read more...

Time Management Tips - To Do List
When preparing a "to do" list you should also consider the things you should not be doing during your day. It's fine to have a well planned to do list each day, but if you are easily distracted then it will be the things that you are doing in-between completing your list that will be the big time wasters. read more...