TIME MANAGEMENT
Module 3 cont....
Visualizing Your Goals
Visualizing your goal will help you create the desire to materialize it into your life. It allows you to envision the possibility of achieving these goals and boost your sense of fulfillment. Visualization is a highly effective motivating technique that will reinforce your drive to complete tasks, and avoid delay.
To visualize your goal, start by forming an image in your head of a prosperous outcome of your impending task. Include your senses throughout the visualization process to better imagine the accomplishment. What emotions do you feel after visualizing this outcome? Create a list of the benefits you will see when you achieve your goal and concentrate on how that will make you feel.
Another great visualization tool is a vision board. Simply find a magazine, cut out pictures that resonate with the goal that you want to achieve, glue them onto a piece of poster board, and place that board somewhere that you can view it several times a day. This will serve as a strong motivator to maintain focus on what you are aiming to achieve.
The 4 P’s:
Goals are designed to help you reach a future of success by providing focus, and direction. It is fundamental to include goals while planning projects and advancing your work performance. However, not every goal will be an effective goal. When establishing your goals, it is important that they convey the power of the four P’s, being personal, positive, possible and prioritized.
Personal:
Goals must be personal in order to be most effective. They must reflect your own dreams and values, not those of friends, family, or the media. When crafting your goal statement, always use the word “I” in the sentence to brand it as your own. This will place the responsibility solely on you, ensuring that your goals are not dependent on others. When your goals are personal, you'll be more motivated to succeed and take greater pride in your accomplishments.
Positive:
When declaring your goals, it is critical to focus on the way you word your goals. Using positive statements will allow you to focus on what you truly want to achieve and ultimately improve your chances for reaching success. For example, rather than saying “I will no longer work at this job that is boring”, try phrasing the statement in a positive way such as “I will work at a job where I can present my full potential each day”. Focusing on the positive will help you to improve your outlook.
Possible:
Be sure to consider what's possible and within your control. When you set goals that are impossible to reach, you are simply inciting disappointment and failure. It is important to be honest with yourself when assessing your talents and abilities. There are certain goals that will require continued education, or special skills that you may not be qualified for. Focus on those that are possible to achieve.
Prioritized:
Achieving challenging goals requires a lot of mental energy. Instead of exhausting yourself by focusing on several goals at once, invest your mental focus on one goal- the most important goal right now. When you are prioritizing, choose a goal that will have the greatest impact on your life compared to how long it will take to achieve. A large part of goal setting is not just identifying what you want, but also identifying what you must give up in your life in order to get it.
Creating Your Productivity Journal:
A productivity journal is a valuable tool to assist you in conquering your goals. This journal will include the tasks and associated steps that you need to take throughout the day to ensure that your goal is completed.
To prepare a productivity journal, start by labelling a spiral notebook as your Personal Productivity Journal or your Professional Productivity Journal. (We recommend keeping a separate journal for work and for your personal life, so you can focus on them at separate times, thus maintaining your optimal work/life balance.) Label each page with the day and the date and what needs to be done that particular day. Next, prioritize each task in order of importance. Highlight the top three items and focus on those first. Cross off items as you complete them. Items that are not completed should carry over to the next page.
Maximizing the Power of Your Productivity Journal
When you write down your tasks or goals the night before, your subconscious mind focuses on that plan while you sleep. By planning the night before, you will also start fresh and focused on the most important tasks for the day. Of course, you will want to review your list in the morning, but you will have a head start on your day.
Always have your productivity journal with you during the day to avoid becoming sidetracked. Crossing off completed tasks will give your subconscious mind a tremendous amount of satisfaction. This will also help to maintain your motivation to complete the remaining items on your action list.
If you find yourself moving uncompleted tasks over into the following day, and the day after that, then you need to ask yourself why that task is on your list in the first place and what value it has in your life. If you postpone a task three times, it does not belong on your action list.
Practical Illustration
Margaret and Rachel were reviewing their mid-year profit portfolio in June and realized they were not making enough money.
Rachel then had the brilliant idea of using the SMART way to come up with an achievable goal.
Margaret and Rachel sat down and thought of a specific goal they wanted to reach. After lots of deliberation, they decided they wanted to increase their revenue by 10 percent.
In order to keep their goal measurable, they were going to measure their progress monthly. This would make sure that their goal was attainable by the end of the year. It would keep their goal relevant as well. The two decided to make the deadline for their goal in December to keep it timed.
After using the SMART way to create a goal, Margaret and Rachel were a lot more confident in the capability of their business to stay productive and make money.