How to Achieve Your Goals When You Are Organizationally Challenged
I am not an organized person by nature. I manage to stay just organized enough to not look like a hot mess all the time. But I feel like I’m always one step behind and trying to catch up. I look on with envy at my friend’s color-coded calendars and their tabbed binders.
Have you ever just been so frustrated with the “mess” of your life that you just can’t take it anymore, but you’re not sure how to fix it? I’m being slightly over dramatic, but I have been at that point for a bit now. As part of my book list I have been reading the book The 12 Week Year. I know it’s geared more towards business, but it is completely applicable for anyone with any goals or aspirations in their life. I have taken the main principals in the book and have set up my own 12 week year. If you want to grab the book I highly encourage it, it is filled with tons of great advice and motivation. But if your life is as full as most, maybe you just want the quick not so thorough Cliff Angela Notes spin on it.
How to Turn your dreams into reality
Begin by listing out every dream, goal or aspiration you have for the future. Think about where you want to be in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years. Think about the life that you deeply desire. Don’t be afraid to list it all. I had about a page and a half when I was done.
Once you have done this, you may notice what I realized. The things on my list fell into natural categories, for me it was: Family Goals, Personal Goals and Professional Goals.
I took those categories, and I broke them down into what I specifically wanted from each of those areas. Some examples for me where: Stronger family and friend relationships, live a healthier lifestyle, Grow my blog.
When I further broke some of those areas down, I realized that in each of these areas, The overall struggle is with the lack of organization. Not being organized is what prevents me from reaching some of my goals. Lack of organization leads to lack of time. I’m wasting time and focus doing things that will never get me to my goals.
How are to make your plan work
I spent several days (during various kids practices) really considering how I was going to work through each of my areas and set goals. In The 12 Week Year, you make goals on a 12-week cycle and for each goal, you create a list of weekly actions that will help you achieve your goal. This set up was helpful to me. But I’m a visual person and I needed it broken down more specifically. For each action that I wanted to accomplish I wanted a why and how I was going to get it done. I pulled out a calendar and got busy filling in dates, times, and my action plan. I like things pretty so doing it in different colors was a must.
Examples of my goals and actions
Goal: Live a healthier lifestyle
Two of My weekly actions were:
- Menu plan and shop for each meal. (I used to be great in this area, but over the years with less time and an increased income I haven’t made it a priority. Not being organized in this area was affecting my eating habits as well as our budget.)
I made a master grocery list and came up with a meal plan for the week. I will do this every week. I used to have a membership to Plan to Eat. I may consider joining again.
- Drink a least 8 8oz of water each day
Purchased a water bottle that will help me keep track
Goal: Invest more time in family and friend’s relationships.
Two of my weekly Actions are:
- Have 3 date nights a month with my husband.
I put those dates on the calendar and I settled on a plan, so that there would be no excuses for us when the time came.
- Spend quality time with each of our children once a week.
I know that one of my daughters just loves for us to read together, I’m going to make sure that happens every Tuesday morning at the very least.
The greatest predictor of your future are your daily actions- Brian Morgan
I did this with each of my goals and now I have a goal and a plan for the next 12 weeks. Each week I will assess how I’m doing and at the end of the 12 weeks I will evaluate progress and set new goals.
I am committed to these goals, because I started with my end in site, and I desire that end, (my 3 year, 5, year and 10 year goals) enough to realize that it’s my actions today that will eventually lead me there.
Do you know the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago, Do you know the Second best time? Today. ~Chinese Proverb
If you are looking for simple organizational ideas on managing your household, check out THIS POST before you go.
Do you have goals or aspirations you are trying to keep? How do you keep yourself accountable?
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Angela is the Homeschool Encourager for the Overwhelmed & Under-Caffeinated and the Chaos-to-Confidence Specialist behind Schooling with Grace. With a no-fluff approach, a dash of humor, and a whole lot of heart, she helps homeschool moms cut through the chaos, ditch unrealistic expectations, and teach with confidence.