Welcome to the 30-Day Organize-athon!
In today’s 5 minutes we’re going to express-organize the things you would like to achieve for yourself.
Not what you were expecting? Let’s give it a go anyway…
Day 23: Organize Your Goals
Step 1: Get a pen and paper or open a new document on your computer.
Step 2: Without over-thinking, quickly list 5 to 10 things you’d like to achieve in the next 6 months. Aim for a range of goals across personal/spiritual, home/family and career/business/financial areas.
For example:
- Lose 10 pounds
- Organize the spare room
- Get a promotion
- Spend regular one-on-one time with each of the kids
- Save money for a vacation
- Read inspirational books; etc.
Step 3: Choose your top goal. Now choose one action you will take this week to move closer to that goal.
For example:
- Lose 12 pounds –> Go for a walk after dinner three times this week
- Organize the spare room –> Call a charity to collect the boxes of old clothes in the spare room
- Get a promotion –> Talk to my boss about what I need to work on to earn a promotion.
Step 4: Choose a time this week when you will do this action, and put it into your diary for the assigned day and time. Good – now you’re committed!
And you’re done!
Got an Extra 5 Minutes?
- Choose additional actions you will take toward your top goal, and diarize these actions.
- Choose more goals, and diarize actions you will take toward these goals.
Doesn’t that feel motivating!
The 30-Day Organize-athon Mantra
Move fast. Don’t overthink. Let it go!
Got a Question?
If you have questions about any of the 30-Day Organize-athon tasks, or the 30-Day Organize-athon program in general, please ask your question on this Q&A post or on this Facebook post.
I’ll put together a special Q&A post and answer the questions for you.
Leave Your Comment Below…
Please leave your comment below to say you’ve completed today’s task.
See you tomorrow!
[Image by aussiegall]
Done. What a great thought-proviking exercise. I have been using your goals and priorities diary since the first of the year – LOVE IT – and I notice that when I skip it for a few days, accidentally, that I begin to lose track and focus. It is a great tool (not a crutch), and this task helped me go back over where I was with my plan. Thank you.
This was really difficult for me to do, I’m going through a very stressful time in my life and the last thing I needed was to give myself more to do. Before falling asleep last nigh, I realized that the best thing I could do was to set goals that supported me during this time. I drifted of to sleep shortly after that and slept well last night.
Awesome, I do this everyday! I use your “Goals and Priorities Diary 2011” to list my goals for the day. It’s pretty helpful and makes me remember them since I write them down.
This I started several weeks ago, and every week I put activities in my calender to each goal. It’s a great thing to do – and very satisfactory 🙂
I started the year off great using your Goals and Priorities Diary, but realized that I had let it just slide and fall by the wayside. So I got my binder back out and reviewed what I had listed as goals in January to see if they were realistic or still goals I wanted to achieve. My downfall is to write things up that look fantastic on paper, but then not following through. Thanks for the 1st third of the year reminder to focus on goals.
On Thursday evening I took my diary outside to scribble down some to-do’s as I walked around. Came back inside and added a few more categories. So the list was done, I have however added a long term (3-6 mths) garden and house vision and I also need to focus on my health a lot more.
So I am about sit down and spend 5 mins to refine the list into more specific goals and then the to-do list becomes the action part to diarise.
Today I’ve crossed off a lot of the little jobs, made another BIG step towards the major house goal of repainting – third wall washed, prepped last 2 days and now the first coat of new paint is on. Looks SO much better!
I think I’m adding a daily routine – quick check in here to maintain this lovely momentum. Thanks Michele and Happy Easter!
I’m a list maker so this is right up my alley. It was good to limit myself to 5 minutes or I could have “planned” all day instead I actually got some chores done along with the planning.
I’m not sure which I was dreading more: this or the paper! The goals always seem to be knocking around in my head, but there’s something about seeing them in black and white….
This one took me longer than 5 minutes but well worth it. Done
Done.
this is the hardest one for me. i can write lists all day, but i am disoriented in my everyday life with 0 discipline that i follow through on very little. that was hard to confess, but harder to change
I’ve never done this before so it was a good exercise. Now to get moving on my list!
I always seem to have a list of goals and actions to accomplish them in my head. It will help to see them written down, so I can be reminded of them each day and actually take action to get them completed. This 30 day organize-athon has gotten me started on my #1 goal, getting my home decluttered. It won’t be completed by the end of the month, but at least I have made a big improvement in major areas.
Will you please consider doing it for next month also? It has been so motivational for me.
Ok….good – I do this kind of thing for others for a living and have mine done, but it’s been awhile since i updated and focused on my own goals…Thanks for the prompting.
I’ve never really done this before. I was horrified, but once on paper the “monster” was really made quite small and I’m actually excited. I don’t know why I’ve been so scared to do this. Thanks for holding my hand through this one. I’ve been ‘winging it’ for too long.
Oh boy, I knew this one was going to appear eventually. I always write out my plans and break them down and I’m good for one, two, even three weeks and then something throws off the system and before I realize it, it’s abandoned.
I will once again commit to doing this. My five goals in no particular order:
1. Clean out house so it is empty by the time I’m 60 (1.5 years away)
2. Organize yarn stash and sell what I will not use
3. Lose 25 pounds. I work out like a fiend and watch what I eat but it’s not coming off – I’m going to keep working on it
4. Create an In-Case doc with all our pertinent info and give it to one of the kids for safe-keeping
5. Get financial papers in order so No. 4 works smoothly and so we can make a retirement plan.
I think I have enough time to work on each goal each week. I know goal No. 1 exceeds the six month time line so I’ll just break that down in three sections.
1. Lose 40 pounds by August 13, 2011
Have been watching calorie intake, time to exercise.
2.Prepare / Paint 2 rooms in the house in the next 2 months.
3.Menu Planning / Grocery Organizing / Coupon Shopping
Done
Done!
I had this… then it disappeared.
1. To get our family on a budget
2. To get the house in a condition that it won’t fall in while my husband is gone with the military for a year.
3. To spend more time with my son
4. To lose 20 lbs
5. To get photo books made
Altho I have many things in my head that I would like to do, these were the 5 that came to mind without over thinking. The main one is number 1… I have started working on this because our church has had classes and we are on 4 of 5. My husband and I are taking steps to rid our spending of wasted money. 🙂
This was the toughest one yet, but it’s done.