Towards the end of last year, I audio booked: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman. He theorises that four thousand weeks is the average number of weeks we live.
My take home from this book was that there are a lot of productivity programs out there, but the long and the short of it is, that regardless of how productive you want to be, there isn’t really a point to it (not exactly helpful). However, he does add that the main aim is to enjoy the here and now. For me, to be organised, definitely helps with enjoying the moment.
After a wonderful Christmas break, I started feeling particularly anxious and stressed, this was a bit bizarre as I got to a point where I was over analyzing every situation. Rather exhausting and counterproductive especially after a holiday, which should technically energise and put you into a relaxed frame of mind.
Something that I then realised about myself is that I enjoy, no let me rephrase, I need routine and structure.
At the beginning of each year, I set time aside to review my goals from the previous year, reflect on them and then work on goals for the new year. It’s quite an exercise, but I found that as soon as I had set my goals for this year, the anxiety dissipated, and it was as if I was able to breathe again.
In case it is helpful for someone who might feel a bit panicked for the year, this is my process, which I highly recommend doing during January.
I use a lot of colour, and, a lot of paper. I’ve just counted, and see that I have structured my goals into twelve different categories, each category gets its own colour. Having different categories helps to have a good balance between things that you want to achieve in different realms of your life.
On a side note, a good friend of mine reminded me the other day as we were chatting about goals, keep in mind that there are two types of goals. A process goal and an outcomes based goal. A process goal is something that becomes part of your routine, e.g. being healthier: eating less sugar or flossing each day, it’s part of a routine that becomes a habit, it’s ongoing. Whereas an outcomes based goal, is something specific that you want to achieve, e.g. reduce your waist size by two centimeters before the end of the year; something that you can measure and tick off at the end of a specific timeframe.
1. Year in review: I first go through all the goals that I set myself the previous year. I go through it goal by goal, reflect on whether I achieved it (outcomes goal), stuck to it (process goal) or didn’t achieve it at all. Then ask myself what I learnt from it and what I could’ve / should’ve done differently.
In Burkeman’s book, he does talk about having a fail list and being ok with not achieving some of your goals. Invariably, there are going to be some items on your goals list that you don’t achieve. Don’t beat yourself up about it and move on. This helped me a lot, as one of my goals last year was improving a specific relationship. But, I realised that somethings are out of my control, as much as I wanted to foster a closer relationship, at minimum improve communication, it was going to be near impossible as it was one sided. If you irritate someone, then no amount of goal setting is ever going to change that. When I made peace with that and the goal went onto my fail list, I was ok with it and felt lighter. This year the focus will rather be on sharing time and focussing on relationships where mutual respect and fun is fostered. The other item that was on my fail list from last year, was doing one coldwater swim with my Aunt. I thought that I had a lot of time at the beginning of last year to get it checked off, but before I knew it the year was over! But, I am thrilled that I've already joined her for TWO swims this year! There's a fine balance between being OK with failing a goal, but also not giving up too quickly. There are such magical moments when you push yourself outside of your comfort zone.
Once I’ve reviewed each goal, I then ask myself do I want to set this goal again? What do I hope to achieve this time around with it, what do I want to do differently, or is there perhaps something totally different that I want to add to the specific category.
[If you didn’t set goals for yourself last year, don’t stress about it. Make a list of everything that you would like to achieve this year. Use different categories, e.g. Family, friends, finances, fitness, spirituality, work, education, health, home, side hustle ~ whatever is most relevant for you. Reflect on each and determine what you would like to accomplish within each category. In other words, next year this time, what would you have liked to have achieved.]
Then, on a big sheet of paper divide the page into different categories and then list the goals in each segment with a different colour. Paste this sheet on the wall close to your desk, so that at a glance you can see and remind yourself what your priorities are.
2. Monthly. Once the overall year plan is plotted. I then take twelve sheets of paper. One for each month and then translate the year into monthly activities that will get me to the overall goal. I love tick boxes, so build in a check box wherever I can. The actions are also colour coded; same as for the year. Last year I also made a separate check list page for the 100 x 10 kms that I stuck on the fridge, after each run I would colour in a square. I'm all for celebrating small wins!
3. Weekly. From there, the activities get diarised into my weekly calendar. I prefer using Google Calendar, as it allows me to move things around as I need to.
It’s important to have structure, but at the same time, to be flexible. Also, as Burkeman shares, projects that you work on will always take longer than anticipated regardless of how well you try and plan them. So it’s important to have wiggle room in your week and not plan it too tightly so that if something runs over, it doesn't cause the rest of your day and week to be driven by anxiety because you didn’t get around to completing something.
When you set your goals, remember, if they don't scare you, they aren't big enough. Bring in something that challenges you, and I also think it's good to bring in something creative. Try new things. One of my favourite goals last year was a 100 day drawing challenge that a friend introduced me to. [Checkit out www.instagram.com/thebell365 ]
Generally, I plan my activities in 30 minute increments, but, I set my alarm for 25 minutes, then I know I have five minutes left to either wrap up, or to take a quick break. Then on to the next task for 25 minutes. If there is something that may need a bit more time, I slot it in for 60 minutes, but set the timer for 50 minutes, then challenge myself to complete it within the 50 minutes. Years ago I used to work for hours on end without a break. It was exhausting and often towards the end of the assignment, get so tired that more often than not it had to be redone at a later stage, which was very frustrating. In Burkeman’s book, he does share that small increments of work each day gets much more done than trying to do it all in once.
One of the scourges of trying to be productive is procrastination. Sometimes, you can be as organised as you want to be, but procrastination is real. There’s a wonderful meme I saw the other day saying:
There is no limits to what you can accomplish when you’re supposed to be doing something else.
I do find that it helps to say to myself, let me time myself for just five minutes to do something that I really don’t feel like doing. You can often get quite a lot done in five minutes, and I do find that it breaks down that procrastination barrier.
The ‘one minute rule’ is also great; if something is going to take you less than a minute to do, do it right away. [Here's a super article on the One Minute Rule]
One last thing, when it comes to your goals, there is something quite powerful in writing them down, reading them often and talking about them, it tends to keep you more accountable and focussed on achieving them.
Here's to your wonderfully productive and prosperous 2023!
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