List-maker

{a few of my lists from my daily planner: 2011 goals, 2010 goals/wishlist, various songs/musicians to check out}

I'm a list-maker by nature. I love making lists of all sorts of things: for the grocery store, my daily tasks, weekly goals, etc. In the back of my daily planner, I have a section with a list of baby names {yes, I admit this}, blogging ideas, and various songs I've heard on Pandora that I want to download. Often, this drives Hubby crazy because I insist on "making a list". I will say that over the years, my process of list-making has begun to rub off on him as he has taken to writing down lists and enjoys checking them off almost as much as I do.

Every year, I make a list of things that I hope to accomplish for the year.  I vary between significant goals {fitness, learning a new skill or hobby}, and small goals {baking 1x/month, reading a leisure book 1x/month}. I find that writing down my goals, carrying them with me each day, I'm much more motivated to make efforts to achieve my goals. I love this method of goal setting often referred to as "SMART goal setting":

• Specific: What, Why, Who, Where, Which


• Measurable: How much, How many, How will I know when I have accomplished it?


• Attainable: Realistic, How can the goal be accomplished?


• Relevant: Is this goal worthwhile? Is this something that I really want to do?


• Time-Bound: When will this be accomplished? What is a realistic timeframe for me to accomplish this goal?

This system really facilitates the process of goal-setting. This creates a much easier system for setting specific and measurable goals. As I head into the new year, I'm carving out time to reflect on the things that I accomplished, and also re-evaluating previous unmet goals.

Are you a list-maker? Do you set weekly/yearly/monthly goals? How do you track them?

xoxo,

PJ