Comments on: MWM: Setting Goals

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 03:49:58 +0000

And don’t forget to celebrate all that you DO accomplish every day. I do this at bed time. and the things that don;t get done today, I just put on the list for tomorrow. That might mean I have to move things around and prioritize.

By: Marcela

Marcela — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:21:48 +0000

I was given an agenda for this past christmas… I havent even considered to pick it
up until just a minute ago.
My list as of today…
- Prepare my classroom for state tests. (covering all student work etc)
- going to bank to deposit
- defrosting dinner fromt the other night
- loading dishwasher
- checking little ones school agenda
-meeting a friend for coffee

By: Harry @ GoalsOnTrack

Harry @ GoalsOnTrack — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:24:34 +0000

Nice! I find breaking down a task into much smaller parts is a great way to keep yourself on track and motivated.

By: Julie Bo

Julie Bo — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:42:50 +0000

Hello Gail,

In an effort to save money my husband and I cancelled our cable many years ago. When we found that we didn’t miss it, we never got it hooked up again and now many years later we still only have a handful of channels that we receive thanks to our free-to-air cable box and an antenna in our attic.

As such, it’s always such a treat when I go home to Ottawa to visit my family and get to watch their T.V.s Last month I spent a whole day at my sister’s (it was snowing pretty hard) and got to catch a few episodes of your show. I was instantly hooked.

Thankfully slice.ca has the episodes online for me to indulge in. Since coming home I’ve set up a budget for our family, set a list of goals for us to save towards (something we’d never done before) and today the big thing on my list was to get our banking organized.

My husband and I are pretty good about money and had no debt other than our mortgage which itself had been renegotiated to a lower interest rate over Christmas. Also we had some savings in RRSPs, Mutual Funds and RESPs for our two girls. However, most of our savings came as a result of a rather large bonus cheque my husband got a few years ago and since then we’ve been rather lackadaisical about making contributions.

While I hate to admit it, it’s also rather likely that we were spending more than we were making. To tell the truth so long as our credit cards stayed paid off and our bank balance remained pretty much the same I never really thought about it.

Well now things have changed. While my husband teases me that I can’t be dragged away from the computer because I’m always watching your show, he has also gotten on board with the notion that we now need to have a budget and plan for future expenses, emergencies and savings. I feel much better about our money situation because now I have a real sense of where we are and where we are going.

So 3 things that I have accomplished on my list today are:

1. Meet with Banking Advisor to open TFAs for me and G
2. Start automatic withdrawals for Emergency Fund and Savings
3. Find a way to send a Thank You to Gail Vaz-Oxlade for showing me that you don’t need to be in debt to be irresponsible about your money.

Thanks Gail!

By: Lynne

Lynne — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:37:49 +0000

Thanks Gail for providing the original link (Dec. 17/08) – I must have missed that one !! It really helps to be able to refer back to something so helpful as well as all the comments.

By: Freedom57

Freedom57 — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:13:59 +0000

At the office I rely heavily on lists to prioritize my work for the day or week. I know I’ll have a weekly chat with my manager to discuss what I’m working on, any issues and what’s next on the horizon project wise. Knowing you must be accountable on a regular basis helps you focus on what needs doing, and what you can report is completed – even if it’s just stages of completion for larger tasks. In addition to scheduling meetings and conference calls in my electronic calendar I also regularly block off an hour or two for concentrated time when I need to plow through several small tasks, or am working on a project that requires an unbroken train of thought.
I’m less list oriented at home – I kind of have 3-4 things I’d like to get accomplished over a weekend. Recently I’ve tried writing them down – once it’s on paper I feel more accountable to myself even if nobody else will be checking.
This weekend’s list was:
1. complete & file taxes for DH and I
2. 1 hour (min) on purging our filing – an ongoing project
3. reset all clocks forward an hour
4. 10 items to donation box/recycling/garbage (I’ve commited to 5/day for the entire year).
5. Complete discussions/schedule of what the DH and kids will be doing all week on March break. I’m working but seem to be leading the planning for everyone else…

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:52:37 +0000

Lists are wonderful for all sorts of things. And it is amazing what happens when you make a list, your mind finds ways to succeed. If I don’t make a list things don’t just happen, because I didn’t make myself accountable for anything. When I made a list of qualities I wanted in a new boyfriend it forced me to sit down and evaluate what I REALLY wanted in life and love. What is really important to me in a partner. Amazingly enough when I put that down on paper, I found someone that matched. Before that process I was just blindly experimenting with different people, which is fine, it helps you figure out what you don’t want, but it also doesn’t let you know when you have arrived.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:35:24 +0000

Lists are great! It is very important to make your goals small and manageable, if you don’t then it feels very defeating when you don’t accomplish the goals you set out. For some task that I really hate I break it down even further, for example if I want to clean out the desk I will assign 1 or 2 drawers per day so that by the end of the week it will be done and this way I don’t have to spend much time on it at once, but it still gets done. I am on mat leave right now but when working I even set daily goals for what to get done in a day, that is very important since I work from home 3 out of 5 days, and will go up to 4 days when mat leave is done.

Today my list is:
-exercise
-shower
-tidy living room
-unload/load dishwasher
-file some bills
-visit grandparents

By: Jutebug

Jutebug — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:08:07 +0000

My mother has always been a great list maker! I grew up watching her and Dad run the family farm with lists! They would discuss the day’s list over morning coffee and then cross things off at the end of the day over dinner. So needless to say, I followed in her footsteps and now I see my 2 sons (young adults) with lists in progress as well! It’s a great habit to get into.

By: Marie

Marie — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:58:40 +0000

Hi Gail
I too love making lists, and agree with the person above who mentioned making the goal short and manageable. I’m currently working on doing everyone’s income tax return in my house, including mine which includes a day job and two small businesses, so I’ve separated my list into jobs that take approximately 1 hour each. There’s a lot of them, but completely manageable if looked at as just a 1 hour (sometimes less) job for each.

Another trick I use for not wasting vast amounts of time on the computer is to list “computer” jobs on my day plan. I only go on the computer from about 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. (I’ve gone over today since I’m on holiday), so any interesting websites I come across in my reading, or other topics I want to research, get listed on that list, instead of turning the computer on every time I feel like it.

Marie

By: Amber

Amber — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:40:03 +0000

I love how at least three of the lists include a stop at the library! Every time I hear a politician or other public figure say libraries are obsolete and nobody uses them anymore, I like looking around my busy small-town library and smiling at how out of touch they are! We have people picking up movies and books (including Gail’s!), students of all ages working on projects or being tutored, older people reading newspapers or books or doing crossword puzzles, people on the computers hunting for jobs, researching their family tree or just checking on Facebook…anyway, back on topic.

I find I am more focused when I use lists but I have a hard time making a realistic one. I tend to write down all the things I SHOULD do but then end up not doing any of it. My friend, who loves lists, taught me to write simple things on them so I get the positive reinforcement of crossing something off – like a nap or making breakfast or reading a book! Sometimes I write down things I’ve done that weren’t on my list just so I can cross something off

By: Cas

Cas — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:29:59 +0000

Hmmm… Tomorrow’s list will be:
1. Bake a loaf or muffins for breakfast
2. Prepare dinner for slow cooker
3. Take down laundry and put away.
4. Vacuum.
5. Prepare lunch for kids
6. Go to hair appt.
7. Visit parents.
8. Return videos to library
9. Google directions to Tuesday’s outing
10. Help daughter with research project

By: Elizabeth A

Elizabeth A — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:22:44 +0000

It’s very satisfying to cross things off the list. Sometimes I write something down that I just did on the fly and cross it right off. Then later when the day is gone and I wonder what did I get done anyway, there it is! I also write a list for the next day when thoughts are racing through my head before bed. Then, I don’t need to think about the next day, it’s planned out. I may not even need to look at the list the next day, but it was important to my good night’s sleep to write it!

By: Mees

Mees — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:35:15 +0000

I’d like to add: keep it realistic!!!

I’m always biting off more than I can chew and not thinking through how much time it will take. Then I feel awful when I don’t get it all done!

I’m learning to narrow it down to key things like most of you have.

With my marking, I have FINALLY learned not to say “Mark projects” (for example). I have large classes so realistically, I will not get 31 done for an entire class in one sitting. Easier to chunk it out and say “Mark 10 projects today”.

The same works for cleaning. Instead of saying “clean room” – if it’s too overwhelming, it’s good to narrow it down to “clean closet”. Anything past that is a bonus!

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:16:25 +0000

Gail,

I’ve been keeping lists for years—love it! I find they are very helpful, especially when life feels overwhelming at times.
There is nothing more satisfying than crossing ‘to do’ items off those lists, at home AND the office. The only problem I have is when co-workers find my lists and take the liberty of adding their own ideas. If my husband starts doing this, I’m in trouble.

Love your articles!