By Honor Hawkins

Part 1 of 2: Setting effective goals

Have you ever been to the gym in January? Every treadmill has a wait, every towel is used and every class is overflowing. But by February, order reigns again; you can park with ease and snag the good magazines again.

Most of us start the New Year with lofty resolutions. We’re going to lose weight, add to our bank account, learn conversational Italian and be kind to others. But a month later we’re chomping Doritos, behind on deadlines and slammed with holiday bills.

“We have the best intentions, but life just gets in the way,” says local productivity specialist Jane Taylor, a consultant with international productivity firm Priority Management (www.prioritymanagement.com/taylor). Taylor trains businesses and individuals to lead less stressful lives through her company’s techniques.

“I help clients change their behavior because that’s what it takes,” says Taylor. “There are no quick fixes.”

There are, however, some strategies you can use to turn your resolutions into goals and your to-do list into a plan. We can’t promise you’ll lose 20 pounds or triple your company’s revenue, but Taylor thinks you can close each day feeling less stressed, making work time or personal time truly time well spent.

Set effective goals

When Taylor asks clients about professional and personal goals, most people say: Be more productive, make more money, save more money, spend more time with family, or write a novel.

These dreams, of course, are doomed to failure because they aren’t useful. Better goals fit what time management gurus refer to as S.M.A.R.T. goals:

Specific. Rather than aspiring to be more productive, tell yourself you’ll limit Internet surfing time to 20 minutes per day.

Measurable. Don’t aim to be healthier, shoot, for example, to walk for 45 minutes four times per week and eat out only once per week.

Attainable. Want your company to be the next Viacom? It may be possible, but probably not by 2005. But could you boost your quarterly revenue .5% by hiring a new sales person?

Relevant. Taylor had a client who said she was “very satisfied” with her work out goals—she didn’t work out all. “She had no interest in working out so she didn’t, it just wasn’t relevant to her.”

Trackable. Taylor checks back on clients throughout the year to see how they are progressing. “If a development professional needs to raise $40,000 per quarter to achieve year-end goals, we can tell how things are going one month into it.”

“Most of us feel overbooked,” says Taylor. “This way, you can say no to obligations and requests that aren’t linked to goals.”

The new bridge won’t appear by your commute tomorrow morning. It has taken years of budgeting, planning and construction. All goals are built by cumulative tasks. But those tasks can easily overwhelm and derail you.

To manage tasks, Taylor suggests the four “Ds.”

Do it now. You get an e-mail request for information. One request is no big deal; 10 of these a day can cut into your accomplishments—and get on your nerves. If it takes three to five minutes to handle it, do it right away.

Date activate it. Add it to your task list plan (more on that next issue) with the date you’ll tackle it.

Delegate it. Taylor likes the 70% rule. If someone else can do it at least 70% as well as you, pass it on right away with all original materials so there is no doubt who is responsible.

Delete or dump it. Does it relate to your goals? If not, get rid of it.

Who cares?

Taylor reports that people she has trained are twice as likely to feel a sense of accomplishment than before training. “And with sense of accomplishment comes stress reduction.”

“One client was running a small business. Things weren’t bad, things weren’t great. He was in a rut. So I worked with the organization and with the individuals on their goals. Now the company has its momentum back.”

Next issue: Turn your to-do list into a plan.

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