It didn’t snow today…but it is still foggy and cold.
So, I decided to stay inside and work on my goals today! Doesn’t THAT sound EXCITING, boys and girls?
I have been writing about goals on this blog off and on for the past two weeks. However, I needed to spend some time figuring out what I want to accomplish this year.
One of my problems over the years has been that I have not had a practical, easy-to-use system for reviewing my progress toward my goals during the year.
When I was a young minister, my life was full of appointments and meetings at various locations around the UCLA campus. So, I carried a Day-Timer with me at all times. I designed my own check lists and would regularly review my progress toward achieving my goals.
However, my life is no longer that complicated. I go to work…and I come home. My only meeting is with my wife. Therefore, I no longer need a Day-Timer to manage my life.
Thus, my paper based system of reviewing my progress went the way of the dinosaur. It gradually died off.
For the past several years, I have tried to figure out a way to do it on my computer. I read reviews of “productivity” software, downloaded free trial versions and tested them. No matter how I tried, it seemed that the software was just creating another thing for me to do!
Until today…
About a month ago, I skimmed a favorable article on some software called “Things” by Cultured Code. Then, I saw it on the shelf at the Apple store. Well, I went back and actually read that article. I was so impressed that I downloaded the the trial version.
THIS SOFTWARE KICKS BUTT!!!
It is a piece of cake to use. And it does what I want!
The software is really designed for task management. But, isn’t a goal merely the result of a bunch of directed and purposeful tasks?
I copied all of my goals from my Excel file into “Things”…daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, quarterly goals, yearly goals, someday goals…all of them.
I then “tagged” them according to the area of life: spiritual, marriage, children, family, social, mental, physical, financial and career. I can look at all of them or by each individual area.
Then I realized that quite a few of my “someday” are actually more like projects. No problem…
I moved them into the project category and began creating a to do list to make each one happen.
The software automatically creates a list of things to be done today.
If I need to remember to stop and get some milk on my way home, I can quickly and easily create a “To Do” item with today’s date. The software not only will remind me to get the milk but it will also have a list of all of those things that I need to do today in order to hit my goals in the future in the various areas of my life.
And, since they also have an app for the iPhone, I will have them in front of me wherever I go!
Great software! I am definitely going to buy it.
