Goals are a Time Management Skill

Goals can help you to make the most effective use of your time. Most people understand that goals are important but they aren't very good at setting and getting them. And that creates a lack of focus and that lack of focus causes you to make poor time related decisions. One reason people mess up with their goal setting is that they try to set way too many goals. You can't focus on or track too many goals so you're better off setting a few goals and really concentrating on getting those than trying to do everything at once. Plus when you only have a few goals it's much easier to plan the next actions you need to take to get them.

Goals help you to focus your energies on doing the right things. You have to know what the right things are though before you can take those actions. When you have written well planned out goals you know what actions you need to take.

Written goals help you to identify what's keeping you from having that goal now and what you'd have to do to get it. You have to think through both your obstacles and your best options for overcoming those obstacles so you know the actions that are the most valuable. With that knowledge you can identify the actions you need to take.

You can make better use of your time when you know the actions you need to take and the most important actions that produce the best results You need to plan each goal down to the level of the specific actions you can take each day to make those actions happen. Plus you can make better decisions before you take an action.

You spend a large portion of your day responding to interruptions. When you do that you're taking a reactive approach to time management that increases your stress and reduces your productivity. It's a whole lot easier to allow distractions and interruptions to use up your time than it is to decide on the actions you will take before you take them.

When you have goal focus you have to retrain your behaviors and the behaviors of those around you. You have to train yourself to take at least one action everyday that will move you closer to the accomplishment of your goals. You have to train those around you that you will respond to their needs but not necessarily at the moment they come to you with their need.

To really understand how to get the most value from your time you have to understand what you want to get and how you can get that. Clear goals that are written in terms of actions is how you start to improve your time management. Back those goals up with your commitment to make those actions happen on a daily basis.

Author: Cheryl A. Clausen can help you get where you want to be. To find Time Management Tips get her free ecourse. Enhance your Time Management Skills, check this out.

Article Source: http://www.c3careerarticles.com

Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5  Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Articles on Goal Setting Via RSS!