How to Set SMART Goals to Achieve Ultimate Productivity
Your goals reflect who you are and what you want to achieve! And when your ultimate goal is to be the most productive person you know, creating SMART goals is the best way to get the job done! To increase your productivity and give yourself the best advantage for both work and home, you’ll want to learn how to implement SMART goals in every area of your life. With just a few key steps, you can have productivity in the palm of your hand!
What are SMART Goals?
Let’s start with the basics: what are SMART goals? SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. When you bring all of these
elements together, you increase your productivity in no time. Each one on their own can be a powerful part of your life but when they’re combined, there’s nothing you can’t do!
Specific
As you look at the goals you have for your life, the first thing you’ll want to do is ensure that each one is specific to your needs. We, as humans, have a tendency to make our goals very broad and generic. While this makes it easy to “achieve” said goal, the satisfaction after the fact and the productivity necessary are minimal at best. Instead, creating a specific goal allows you to target your energy and effort into hitting that one goal! There are no wasted motions or moments when it comes to achieving these specific goals.
Measurable
Every goal that focuses on productivity should be not only specific but also measurable! There has to be a component within each of your SMART goals that include a way to measure the progress you’re making at each stage. This might be something as simple as time invested or more complex like the analytics from a major project. However, you choose to measure your goals, create an
outline that gives you parameters for how you’ll measure the goals before you start working toward the new goals in your life. Having those parameters
gives you a way to measure as you progress and lets you look back to see how you’ve grown! Without this measurable component in your goals, it’s hard to pace yourself as you progress. When you’re able to pace yourself and keep track of your growth, goals are always within reach!
Achievable
You know your mind and body better than anyone else in the world! You
know what you can achieve and what’s out of reach, and when it comes to your goals, the key is to make sure they’re not just specific or measurable but also achievable. Setting a goal that’s beyond your reach so completely can be discouraging. If your plan is to exercise more, there’s no reason to set your goal as “work out everyday” when even the pros don’t workout every single day! Creating achievable, measurable, and specific goals gives you a great start that allows you to grow and develop without losing sight of why you started being more productive in the first place.
Realistic
Every goal you set should be realistic on top of specific, measurable, and achievable! There are a lot of goals out there that seem really great but are far from realistic. If you’re trying to hike more, set your goal, as climbing Mt. Everest isn’t very realistic. Starting from zero means, there are going to be some things you won’t be able to do right away, and it’s not very realistic. As you grow and develop and become more productive with your goals, the level of realistic goals is bound to change as well.
Timely
Goals require a time limit! That doesn’t mean you have to set a timer for 5 minutes and try to achieve everything you want in that super short time span. Each goal you set out to achieve requires a timeline that fits with the specific,
measurable, achievable, and realistic parameters you’ve already set. As you change and grow and increase your productivity through each goal achieved, your timeline will change as well! What might take you months to achieve now could take weeks or even days before you even know it!
Takeaway
Setting your own goals shouldn’t be a mystery! There are just a few things you need to help you reach each of your goals in your own time. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time to help you be as productive as
possible in your life! As you grow and change, the definition of each SMART goal will change as well. Your goals are designed to push you toward success in every area of your life, whether you want to do something huge at work or create space for success in your personal life.
Your goals are within reach when you just think SMART!