The beginning of a new yr is speedily near , which makes now the perfect meter to take stock of your priority and set goals for your future . Setting goals help you focalise your attention , get more done , and change your life . Robert Pozen , MIT prof and author ofExtreme Productivity : Boost Your Results , Reduce Your time of day , share his top tips for hone in on your goal — be they to live a healthier modus vivendi , feeler in your career , or prioritize your relationships — and seeing them through to realization .
1. USE THE RIGHT TOOLS.
Just brainstorm your goals is n’t enough — you need to write them down . To give you one place to organize and categorize your goals , Pozen partner with theWall Street Journalto create theProductivity Plannerfor their Journal Collection . “ If you do n’t write down your goals and prioritize them , you are not likely to accomplish them , ” Pozen write in the foreword to his Productivity Planner .
“ Begin by jot down all your goal for the next year , both personal and professional , ” Pozen writes . “ Use your notebook to then separate both sets of goals into ‘ high priority ’ and ‘ secondary antecedency . ’ ” The deviser then serve you translate your goals into monthly target , and uses a two - sided agenda to help you manage your prison term . For every appointment you pencil in to your deviser ( get together , sound calls , tiffin , etc . ) , you also allow for its design , or what you want to get out of it . “ This will help you actively manage your day , ” Pozen write .
2. START WITH SHORTER-TERM GOALS.
Pozen ’s Productivity Planner bulge out by asking you to list your yearly goals , but coming up with these can seem like a massive job , particularly when you ’re vernal . “ bulge out with your end for a relatively light period — like the summer or a semester , ” Pozen tells mental_floss in an email . “ Those periods are easier to see as relevant . ”
Once you have your listing of goals , “ separate your goal into personal and professional , ” Pozen says . “ When you think about personal goals , startle with the loose ones such as what eccentric of social life would you like to have ? When you think about your professional end , similarly , start with something like what new skill would you care to develop ? ”
3. GIVE EQUAL ATTENTION TO YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS.
“ It is often easy to reckon about your professional goals because most people have an thought of a career path , ” Pozen sound out . “ Do you want to advance to a high grade in your current organization , or get a occupation somewhere else ? Do you need to go to a short grooming track or get a young degree or simply do a lot more networking ? In this process , you could confer with a co-worker at employment or a professional wise man . ”
Personal goal often get the short shrift since it ’s more unmanageable to boom down what it is you require and how to get there , but they should n’t be neglected . “ When you attempt to generate personal goal , you should essay to call up through your everyday life story and pauperism . If you are individual , do you want to gather a lady friend or boyfriend ? If you are hook up with , do you want to have children ? ” Pozen says . “ Then you might focalise on your spare clip . Do you want to become better at act a forcible sport or start a new hobby or go on a special vacation ? In this process , you could consult your spouse or a friend . ”
4. DO THINGS RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.
Pozen commend you be by the principle OHIO : Only address It Once . “ OHIO mean that it is most efficient to deal with important matters right on then and there , rather of waiting a hebdomad , ” Pozen says . “ If you wait a calendar week , you may forget the of import matter or it may take you a hour to get back up to speed . So if you receive an authoritative e-mail from your boss , only do by it once — answer it decently then and there . ”
5. MAKE TIME FOR MORE SLEEP.
You involve a satisfying seven hours of sleep for more than just your beauty . “ Without enough sleep , your performance will pass up on complex labor without you even realise , ” Pozen write in the Productivity Planner .
Without a doubt , this is something you ’ve hear before . But it can palpate impossible to put in the hours you involve at body of work , get your chore and errands done , exercise , feed dinner , and hit the hay at a decent time of day . While Pozen notes that there are trick you may endeavor to match more in—“routinizing gloomy precedence tasks like eat breakfast , trying not to drag one’s heels by getting start with an sluttish part of a large project , and throttle meetings to 90 minutes at the most”—the most important matter you may do is de - emphasize the number of minute you ’re cast in at the office . “ The central degree are to set your priorities and focalize on getting them done , rather than just staying long hours at work — that is a pretended sense of productivity , ” Pozen tell mental_floss .
6. EXERCISE.
“ dedicate at least 15 minutes each Clarence Shepard Day Jr. to exercise , ” Pozen spell in his contriver . This will facilitate you experience more merry and eager to tackle the day . But again , how do you fit this time into your meddling schedule ? “ You should attempt to practice in the centre of the afternoon when your energy is low – that will aid you be more energetic and productive for the sleep of the day , ” Pozen tells mental_floss . Moreover , an afternoon workout wo n’t cut into your dinner prep or sleeping time .
7. MAKE SOME SIMPLE CHANGES TO YOUR ROUTINE.
To increase your productiveness and play more efficiently , Pozen recommend making five well-off change to your day-by-day routine — right now .
