Goals in Threes

While I’ve been organizing, prioritizing, and tracking my personal goals, visions and projects, I’ve stumbled upon a bigger question. How much do I really want to accomplish?

The first answer that came to me was that I should aim to complete as much as I can. This seems simple, but it’s wrong. I can too easily fill my life with trivial projects, tasks, and goals, only to reach them and feel unsatisfied. The goals and tasks themselves become as much as an agent for change as they do a machine for distraction.

The answer is to simplify my goals into as few channels as possible. After mind mapping all my responsibilities, aspirations, and active to-do lists, I’ve come up with a system of 3’s that fit everything.

• 1 Big Goal
• 3 Active Smaller Projects
• 6 Lifestyle Actions
• 12 Daily Tasks

1 Big Goal

This is the ultimate vision I want to achieve in 6 months. One goal to realize that would make me feel accomplished and successful. I have restricted this to a 6 month goal to make planning easier. After all, I’m not even concretely planning that far ahead anyway.

3 Active Smaller Projects

I always have other things that need managing. These include projects like creating websites and organizing my kitchen. I only allow myself to focus on three of these at a time.

6 Lifestyle Actions

Many things do not need to be organized into projects, task lists, and deadlines. They simply just need to be done on a regular basis. I have allowed myself 6 lifestyle actions to incorporate into my week. These include things like yoga practice, dancing, writing, and speed reading.

12 Daily Tasks

When I start my day, I do so on an index card with a list of my to do items. I only allow myself 12 slots. I allot space based on importance. Everyday the big project gets 6 task items, active projects get 3 (1 each), and then I allow myself 3 tasks for miscellaneous items like calling my bank or mailing a package.

Conclusion

Giving myself arbitrary limits (1 goal, 3 projects, etc), forces me to focus on the most important actions in my life. Using my daily tasks in proportion ensures I’m keeping focus on the main objective. I have yet to run into a situation where the limitation has prevented me from accomplishing what I want to. Instead of inhibiting action, it encourages it in the right direction.