Aug 31, 2008
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Goal Setting – A Key to Effective Time Management
Part of good time management is setting goals for yourself. But your goals need to be S.M.A.R.T. What does that mean? Well, let’s look a little closer. S.M.A.R.T stands for:
Specific: Detail “exactly” what you want to achieve. You have to be specific when setting your goals. The clearer you are the better direction you will have in how to get there.
When you say “I want to raise money for diabetes” is that specific? Some would say yes but the answer is no. Yes, you want to raise money for diabetes but is that it? Again, the answer is no. Clarify, be specific! Being specific would be: “I want to raise $5000 dollars to support diabetes research by December 31st”. Can you see the difference? The first goal was not clear about exactly what you wanted to do whereas the second example specifically lists what you want to do. It becomes a goal you can actually work towards with clearly defined steps.
Measurable: Is the goal something you can measure results on and know you’re progressing? If you use the example above, would raising $1 alone satisfy your goal? How would you measure your progress? However if you said you wanted to raise “x” amount of money by “x” date, that makes it measurable. You can see by tracking the amount of money your raise how close to your goal your getting and by adding a date you know exactly how long you have to reach that goal – making it “measurable”.
Attainable: Does your goal have the reality of being reachable or is it so far fetched that it will never be reached? You want to set a goal that you can achieve. If you said, “I will raise $100,000 for diabetes by next week” that is not attainable. Know what you can realistically achieve and reach for that. And if you pass it, you’ll feel even better.
Realistic: Is your goal one that can be translated into realistic action? In the above example can you realistically raise money for diabetes? Yes. If you said “I will host a carwash every Saturday beginning Saturday, August 30, 2008 through Saturday, December 27, 2008 to raise $5000 for diabetes” would that be realistic? The answer is yes. If you said you wanted to raise $5000 by 5 p.m. tomorrow by hosting 12 carwashes tomorrow, that would not be realistic. Don’t set goals that cannot be realistically put into action. All you’ll do in the end is make yourself feel like a failure when the result is not achieved.
Time-Sensitive: What is the time frame? If you say, my goal is to complete my essay is that time sensitive? No, because what time frame do you need to achieve the completion of your essay. So to make it more “specific” you can say, “My goal is to complete my essay by 9 p.m. on Friday”. Do you see the difference? By adding the dimension of time you have set a goal that is clear and time oriented. You have a specific time frame you’re working towards. You can even map out steps to take leading up to your deadline. Without adding that specific time frame you leave the door open to procrastination.
You know better than anyone else what you want to achieve. You know the end result that should occur. The plan is to get you there. In order to achieve the big picture you need to set goals. Each goal will bring you one step closer to getting to where you need to be.
By setting S.M.A.R.T goals, you give yourself a definitive goal that you can actually achieve. In the end, isn’t that the whole point of time management, to get you to where you want to be? Goal setting takes time and it takes commitment to the process. With S.M.A.R.T. goals, though, a little effort goes a long way.
[...] Goal Setting – A Key to Effective Time Management By Time Management Help In the end, isn’t that the whole point of time management, to get you to where you want to be? Goal setting takes time and it takes commitment to the process. With SMART goals, though, a little effort goes a long way. … [...]
This is indeed a great post!
This is my first time here and I’m impressed with your
articles, very inspirational.
I have one tip to share about goal setting success as well,
it is that once you have set your goals, you must put yourself
on the line by making a public commitment.
After you made a public commitment, you will have no
other choice but to achieve your goals.
To Your Goal Setting Success,
Shawn Lim
As a student of goal setting, I really like the SMART acronym. It seems to me that people forget the importance of having realistic and time bound goals… which is by definition NOT smart. Nice article! Thanks for posting it.
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