In prehistoric times, where cavemen maxed out with fighting, fleeing, feeding and mating., it was quite easy to keep track of the day. Eventually somebody threw presentations, sales reports, and pottery class in the mix and the need for a to-do list was born.

We all know how to do it, but there are some surprisingly simple additions that can make all the difference to your task-perception and goal-commitment. 

To-do list configurations range from the very simple, such as a single list of items, to the very complex, where each item is divided into sub-tasks, timing, and duee dates. You don't need to go nuts with complexity. The fundamental elements of any effective to-do list are these three things:

If you want to boost your productivity, you’ll need to understand the role of each of these things. It’s not always as simple as it seems! Let’s go through each to better understand their function and how to best apply them.

Firstly, the actual tasks on your list should be things that aren’t dependent on other things happening, but rather a sort of divide and conquer approach. 

For example: “Create new sales deck” isn’t an optimal task as it depends on the prior actions of collecting all the data and research needed; “Brainstorm ideas for sales deck” or “Sales deck research” are better items, as they are the immediate tasks for the ultimate goal.

One significant step in fulfilling a task list is a sort of screening system of prioritization beforehand, so that the tasks you actually have are important. It may seem self-explanatory – after all, a 2008 study found that all countries strongly agreed (above 75%) that the first task tackled the most important, regardless of whether that was first listed – but it’s still surprisingly advantageous to actively contemplate why each task is important, and what their impact is on larger projects or ambitions.

Find more on this in our Goal Setting Guide.

Prioritization is the sister of planning, and you’ll need to use it for a good to-do list. Prioritizing is purely evaluating the order you will do things (walk dog, then take shower; write report, then train new hire). 

You can assess tasks with respect to logical order – A must occur before B, therefore A should be done first – or with prime attention on efficiency – putting similar tasks together, known as task batching, or doing mutually inclusive tasks at the same time (multi-tasking).

Having a prioritization system keeps you from getting overwhelmed by the number of tasks on your list. For most, it’s numbering based on importance, aka the most important tasks (MIT) method. 

All that you need to do is choose your most crucial task, entirely concentrate on it, complete it, and repeat. There’s a good chance that you won’t get everything on your list, and that’s fine; 7 out of 10 is a job well done. You can still reward yourself for falling short of an ambitious target, as you must’ve worked hard to get so close.

Cast your mind back to elementary maths and remember that a line is the distance between two points. You can’t measure that distance without knowing where each point is. In much the same way, how can you recognise how productive you’ve been without acknowledging where you came from, right?

Having a way of tracking your progress is not only great for your sense of accomplishment and means for reward, but also an easy way to see what you didn’t get done. A sophisticated system of symbols, à la rapid logging in a bullet journal daily spread, will allow you to see if items are either unstarted, in progress or fulfilled, as well as any other information like type and urgency of task.

It’s still beneficial, however, to sit down and fully check your progress, especially when drafting the to-do list for the next day. When you’re revising or reviewing the list, you want to make sure that each item on your list is still relevant to the larger aims. This is especially vital for long-term plans, as you might have a few tasks for a big future project, which may or may not end up being as relevant as you’d thought.

Planning improves productivity... end of discussion. E. J. Masicampo’s and Roy F. Baumeister’s 2011 entry into Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found evidence that “plans contribute to goal pursuit by relinquishing control of the goal to the automatic system,” basically meaning “a plan eliminates the need for further involvement from thoughts and attention.”

In other words, your to-do list is a subconscious trick whereby the situation in which you earlier planned to do something becomes a cue for you to do it. 

By having a weekly project list, or a to-do list app, you can begin to form better productivity practices by automating your day and naturally doing things as a response to the planning.

How do I make sure I am properly prioritizing my tasks? 

Eisenhower's Urgent/Important decision matrix is a great way to prioritize your tasks. It’s pretty much what it says on the can: urgent tasks require immediate attention, while important tasks bring greater long-term benefits to your life. Implementing such a method ensures you spend time on what actually matters.

If you’d like to take advantage of the scientific consensus that color has a positive influence on memory, you can use color markers for high, medium, low priority items. If color-coding doesn’t suit you, you can use the aforementioned symbols, used in bullet journal, in say a weekly spread.

One of the least appealing aspects of a to-do list is the overbearing quantity of items you can find yourself with. 

Just like breaking down a long-term project into actionable steps increases productivity (number one in our wonderful list of task management tips), breaking your life into separate lists can help you get a stronger grasp on everything.

The 2008 survey we mentioned earlier also found that 73% of those in the US use to-do lists as a stress-management tool, and feel a calming effect from writing things down. 

Using multiple lists, for instance separating your work duties, family responsibilities and personal ambitions, can magnify this effect by instilling a greater sense of control.

Don’t make your daily list longer than 4-5 substantial jobs, with some smaller duties between. Research suggests that our motivation can affect reasoning. For to-do lists, this manifests as your belief that you can get 100 things done, despite any contradictory evidence.

Pour in a little planning fallacy, our tendency to under-estimate the time a task will take by being overly-optimistic, and it’s easy to see how we set ourselves up for failure with a lengthy to-do list. 

As you consistently implement a daily task list, you will slowly improve at gauging your abilities and the time you’ll need, a tremendous power in timeboxing. Until then, start with a manageable list so you can actually experience that feel-good moment of 100% completion!

Thankfully, there’s no official body that will come and arrest you for disliking to-do lists. If you’re looking for a simpler, more visual way to manage tasks, try planning with Kanban cards. The idea behind the Kanban card system is that you have a board broken up into columns that represent progress or completion steps.

You are then free to move cards from one column to the next as you work on them. The act of physically moving the cards acts as a psychological reward, similar to how checking-off your list feels amazing. You can put reminders on the cards so you don’t forget about them or their sub-tasks. As this system is somewhat more dynamic than a to-do list, you can constantly check progress and know what tasks are next.

Without to-do lists, or another comparable way to compile your tasks, you would find it exceptionally difficult to create a schedule, which, whether it’s a calendar or an online tool like the Friday planner, is actually just a chronological task-list. 

These planning techniques vastly increase work efficiency by dedicating focus to one thing at a time, known as single-tasking. In fact, a mere 10-12 minutes spent planning the day saves up to 2 hours of time, according to time-management experts, an absolute gem for your productivity.

A shopping list makes shopping easier, a checklist makes checking easier, and a to-do list makes doing easier. 

Make your first to-do list in Friday to take the first step towards success.

As the command center for your work, Friday makes it easy to bring in your tasks to the to-do list and to also pull in tasks from your preferred task management apps. 

You can see your daily schedule alongside your tasks, a feature that not many task management software has. 

With the Friday planner and your to-do list, you’ll have a roadmap for your day, helping you be even more productive. 

Daily Planner (integrates with Google Calendar and task apps!)

Everything you need in one place. Friday supports Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Todoist, Trello, Asana, ClickUp, JIRA, and more. See the full list of integrations. 

Drag-and-drop your tasks to the preferred slots on your calendar, planning around your meetings and other appointments

With Friday routines, you can reflect and improve on your daily work--giving you a sense of accomplishment as you end the day

How To Make a Better To-Do List: Make a to-do list that actually helps you work and get more done each day. Friday can help you do it.

How To Make A Better To-Do List To Boost Productivity

How To Make A Better To-Do List: Fix It and Boost Productivity

Trello is a SaaS project management software based on the kanban board system to help you manage projects and tasks in a central place. Trello allows you to create boards with lists of cards associated with that project. For example, if your are working on a website, you can create a board with different lists for the different parts of the website such as "planning", "content", "design" and "developing" and then move cards between the different lists.

Each of these lists will have different tasks associated with it. For example, in my "planning" list, you can have a task that says "create a calendar". In your content list, I have can have a task that says "write a blog post about productivity". In my design list, I can have a task that says "design banner for homepage". These are just examples but you get the idea. You can also put due dates and checklists directly onto your task cards which makes it very easy to organize your projects by getting organized into smaller parts.

Friday is not a project management tool like Trello or Asana. Instead, it's a place that glues your most important work together. It adds structure to your day. 

In Trello, it's really easy to get caught up in the details of your project. With Friday, you can integrate your Trello cards into a handy to-do list and planner. 

This planner sits right next to your schedule, so you can add in tasks to your day around your other meetings or appointments. 

When you integrate it with Friday, you won’t need to copy and paste tasks from Trello to your Daily Planner or routine updates. Friday will pull in tasks from Trello automatically. 

Your tasks stay next to your schedule, helping you focus and finish each day with a sense of accomplishment. 

Friday also works with teams. It can help you streamline your regular meetings at work and move them to an async environment, giving you back more time in your workday. Friday routines are great for daily stand-ups, team check-ins, and weekly reviews. 

When sending a routine update for teams, Friday allows you to attach tasks from Trello. The integration keeps everything in sync, maximizes your time, and updates you on what other team members will be working on that day.

Friday doesn't replace a tool like Trello, instead it enhances it and goes beyond the limitations of project management tools. Friday covers elements of work that PM tools weren't designed to handle. 

Automate Async Updates

Friday integrates with other tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar, Outook, Asana, Todoist, ClickUp, JIRA and others helping you bring all of your work together. See our full list of integrations. 

More on how to integrate Trello into Friday.

What is the most effective way to use Trello?

The most effective way to use Trello is by creating a list of projects that you need to get done and putting them in different lists. Then, create different tasks within each list that can be turned into checklists so it is easy to organize your tasks by getting organized into smaller parts. 

Start working through all of your tasks in chronological order. This means starting from the very top task in every list and working your way down until everything on one list is finished or until there are no more things left on that list. After that point, finish whatever remains at the end of the day/week/month/year, etc depending on how long it will take you (and after any major deadlines).

1. The first step is to create a board and put the projects you need to get done in different lists. For example, if I'm working on a website, I can create a list for "planning", "designing" and "developing". After that, it is up to you how you want to divide up your tasks into smaller parts by making checklists or sorting your tasks from top to bottom. A good way of organizing your tasks is by getting organized into smaller parts is with checklists because they allow you to write down whether or not each task has been completed at the end of the day/week/month etc depending on how long it will take you (and after any major deadlines).

2. Then, start checking off all of your tasks in order starting from the very top one in every list until all the things on one list are finished, then move onto whichever project needs doing next and repeat until all projects are done. If there aren't any more things left on that particular list but there are still other lists out there with things left on them, leave everything else alone until those remaining items have also been checked off accordingly before moving onto another project.

 3. Lastly, try creating different boards for each project so you can keep track of everything you need to do for different projects instead of having them all lumped into one board.

Yes, Trello is a good app to use because it is a great way to organize your life. It allows you to do this by creating lists and giving you tasks that need to be done on certain lists as well as giving you the ability to divide up those tasks into smaller parts so it is easier for you to keep track of what needs to be done. 

Trello is so popular because, unlike other productivity tools like Asana or Monday, Trello lets users visually organize all their tasks in a way that makes sense to them and is easy for others on the team to understand what exactly needs to be done. 

 It also allows different people on your team/in your company or family members to collaborate by seeing everything on one page without having to go through as many steps as they would in a program such as Google Drive. Also, I think a lot of people like using it due to its appearance since it looks very colorful and fun while still keeping organized at the same time (everyone likes colors).

Trello cards are another reason for its popularity. They are your portal to more organized work - where every single part of your task can be managed, tracked, and shared with teammates. Open any card to uncover an ecosystem of checklists, due dates, attachments, conversations, and more.

Trello can be hard to use for people who are not familiar with Trello and it can get confusing if you do not understand how to use the app. Trello is a general-purpose tool. So it can’t be used for specific requirements like cost tracking. It can be used only for smaller groups and when you have a higher number of tasks, it makes it hard to control the visibility of the kanban boards. People get more frustrated when using the Trello free plan as it doesn’t have a calendar. Also, Trello doesn’t have Gantt charts, time tracking, sub-tasks, task dependencies, and multi-board reporting. 

Trello's pros are that it is free, easy to use with a lot of great features. Trello also has a very clean and organized look to it so you can easily find whatever you need within no time. Its cons are that it does not have as many features as some other apps do like Wrike or Jira but for most people who do not need all the extra features, this does not make much of a difference.

Trello’s competitors are Asana, Basecamp, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Dropbox, Box, Google Maps, and Todoist. These apps are similar to Trello but have some differences in what they can do as well as different pros/cons.

For example, Asana is better than Trello because it has a lot more features such as being able to set reminders for certain tasks so you never forget about the most important things (and after any major deadlines). However, if you have a simple way of keeping track of your important tasks and an easy way to organize them into smaller parts then, Trello will probably work better for you since it has been designed with that in mind.

Asana vs Trello: This question can be very difficult to answer since it depends on what exactly you are trying to use these programs for. If I were asked by a business owner, I would say that Asana is better than Trello because it allows companies/organizations to set up workflows and organize their team members into teams depending on what project they are working on at the time (examples include marketing, advertising, etc.). 

In Asana, there are tabs for organizing purposes which might be confusing for some people since multiple things are happening at the same time. However, organizing tasks is much easier in Trello as it provides lists. Also, Asana would be complicated since many people work together towards one goal instead of just one person working on a specific task. 

Trello can be recommended to anyone who needs more visually pleasing elements and some of the features offered by Asana. These two apps both deserve equal amounts of attention but each has its advantages based on what kind of work environment or task it needs to be performed.

Both Monday and Trello are good software solutions for project management. Monday is easy, visual, and intuitive. Also, it gives you many UI options. Trello is simple, has fast workflows, and has a great UI with easy navigation. From the pricing aspect, Monday has a complicated pricing scheme where Trello offers a free package of up to 10 team boards and also business and enterprise packages for affordable pricing. Monday provides more customer support than Trello. If you’re new to project management, I’d recommend using Trello since it is beginner-friendly and does the job easily. But if you require more than basics, it’s better to choose Monday as it offers everything that Trello can do along with plenty of additional features like financial management.

No, Jira is not necessarily better than Trello but they are both great for keeping track of what needs to be done, and the steps that need to be taken to complete those tasks or projects. The main difference between them is that Jira is more suited towards larger companies while Trello works best for small teams/small businesses because of how easy it is to set up, use, and keep organized on such a platform as well as how beneficial it can be when using this app. Atlassian is the parent company of both tools. 

It depends on what type of task management you want to do. For example, if you only need one place for all your tasks and an easy way to organize them into smaller parts, then Microsoft Planner may be better than Trello. However, if you would rather have a lot more flexibility with how you organize your tasks into lists as well as the ability to put in checklists so it is easier for people to stay organized within each list, then Trello will probably work better for you.

Companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Foursquare, and Apple use Trello which proves that it a popular and respected tool. 

How to reduce time spent in team meetings by 50%

Trello can be used for personal use because it helps people get organized in their personal lives in the same way that they would get organized at work or school (or any other place where they need organization). When you use Trello for your career or school, heavily strict deadlines are involved and the tasks are assigned to you by someone else. However, when you use Trello for personal things like planning a trip, you are not assigned tasks by someone and there are no deadlines but you need to get things done beforehand according to the plan. Otherwise, the whole trip would be a waste of time, if you failed to complete important things like booking the hotel.

To organize your life in Trello, you first have to create lists by writing down what your tasks are such as bills, packing, planning, etc. 

Then divide up the lists into smaller parts that make them easier to organize so you don't get confused with which list goes with what part (or just leave one long list). After this is done, start working through each list and cross off all of the things that need to be done until they are completed or else they continue at the end of every day/week/month/year, etc depending on how long it will take (and after any major deadlines).

What are the most useful features of Trello?

Trello offers you many useful features like the ones below:

Easy organization with labels, tags, and comments

Detailed and quick overviews of front/back cards

Easy uploads options - local devices, dropbox, google drive

Trello is free because you only need to have an email address to sign up for Trello and the only thing you pay for is if you want more space on your account.

Yes and no. It depends on your requirements and budget. Trello offers 3 pricing plans such as free, business class, and enterprise.

Here’s what you get from Trello free plan:

iOS and Android mobile apps as well as the desktop app

Here’s what you get from the Trello business class plan, in addition to the free plan:

Different kinds of views - Dashboard view, Timeline view, Workspace Table view, Calendar view, Map view

Workspace-level templates and board collections

Priority support and command run the administration

Trello Overview--Get your questions about Trello answered. See how it integrates with Friday.

Trello Overview & FAQ: What You Need To Know About Using Trello

Trello Overview: What You Need To Know About Using Trello & Why You Should Integrate with Friday

Asana is a Saas (software as a service) platform that helps you manage your project and the team working on the project. You easily organize the project, prioritize tasks, collaborate with the team, and track progress. You manage your project from start to finish in one place.  

“Asana is powerful enough for any workflow but easy enough for any team to use.” That is what Asana claims, but does it stand true?

Asana was created in 2008 by two software engineers: Dustin Moskovitz (co-founder of Facebook) and Justin Rosenstein (ex-engineer for both Facebook and Google) - their goal was to enhance the efficiency and workflow of Facebook employees.

Asana is a project management software, but Friday helps you add structure to your day. What does that mean? 

With Friday, you see your schedule next to your tasks. You can add your tasks directly into the blocks of time that most convenient for you, helping you to focus outside the project noise of Asana. 

See how the Friday planner works with Asana.

When you integrate it with Friday, you won’t need to copy and paste tasks from Asana to your Daily Planner or routine updates. Friday will pull in your Asana tasks automatically. With the Friday planner, you can do deeper work and finish the day feeling more accomplished.

Friday also works with teams. When sending a routine update for teams, Friday allows you to attach a task from Asana. You can also view your Asana tasks on the Daily Planner. The integration keeps everything in sync, maximizes your time, and updates you on what other team members will be working on that day. 

Asana is only one of the integrations you can use in Friday. Connect it to Slack, Teams, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Todoist, JIRA, Trello, and more. 

More on how to integrate Asana into Friday. 

Asana is used to streamline your project’s workflow through remote work management, Asana boards, spreadsheet project management, and to-do lists. 

You can use Asana’s Kanban boards in conjunction with other useful tools to visualize the progress your team makes as they finish all the tasks given. 

These boards help you see the progress of your team much more clearly.

They also let you manage and organize workflows and plan product roadmaps.

Here are some examples of the Asana boards used in practice.

If you work with Excel spreadsheets a lot, Asana lets you import your Excel spreadsheets. There is no need to re-enter all your data manually.

Asana also helps you build and maintain all your spreadsheets very quickly and effectively.

It keeps all project details in one place, lets you collaborate with your team, and manage multiple projects and programs at once. 

These tips can help you with your spreadsheet project management.

Make a to-do list that is as basic or as detailed as you require. 

Everything in Asana begins with a task, which you may complete independently or as a component of larger projects. 

Connect your to-do lists to larger projects, including coworkers, and share real-time updates online.

Here are some examples of the use of To-do lists by Asana.

Asana’s key features are team management, task management, communication, views, and reporting. These features help you manage your project efficiently.

Whether you lead a team yourself or are simply part of it, Asana helps to organize the team with these features:

Projects - Organize your work into shared projects as lists or kanban boards for your initiatives, meetings, and programs.

Tasks - Assign Tasks to individual assignees or break them up into smaller Subtasks.

Deadlines - Deadlines ensure every task gets completed on time. You can also view tasks on an Asana calendar.

Timeline - Timeline of project and task deadlines in Gantt style to improve your planning and scheduling abilities

Likes - Likes function lets you approve a task or a comment, thank or give votes to tasks

Rules - Rules help you to automate various manual operations, such as task assignment or field updating

These are all the features directly related to specific tasks, projects, or assignments:

Proofing - Leave feedback on images or PDFs so that you can ease the tracking of tasks.

Project discussion - Discuss a project’s progress to keep the momentum going.

Languages and localization - Asana is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese.

It makes sense that communication is what connects teamwork. Asana understands this; that’s why they provide these communication features:

Task comments - Comments allow you to clarify and determine what needs to be done quickly. You can also connect colleagues and tasks by mentioning them in your comments.

Proofing - Leave specific and constructive feedback directly so that you can comment on all the areas that need improvement.

Languages - Asana is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese.

Views make your life easier when it comes to focusing on what you need to do.

My Tasks - Plan your day with a prioritized to-do list.

Inbox - Inbox allows you to use filters to specify each category for all your messages and notifications. Stay up to date with current progress on your tasks and projects.

Search - Find any work, task or project effortlessly

Saved advanced searches - This function lets you save specific searches for future reference or further inspection so that you can have a detailed look at what you were searching for at any time.

Calendars - Have a clear idea of what is planned, due, or going on with all your projects, tasks, and assignments.

Colorblind-friendly mode - See the full Asana color palette clearly in colorblind-friendly mode.

Reports are vital - they are essential to clear communication within the team. Here are the reporting features on Asana.

Goals - You can set, track and manage your goals, so they are communicated clearly and effectively.

Milestones - Use Milestones to set goals and motivate your team to be more efficient by setting task milestones to outline the progress better

Dashboard - Provides custom real-time charts to assist you in understanding where work could also be blocked or off-track, with the flexibility to export charts.

How Useful Is Asana, and Is It Easy to Use?

Asana is valuable for project management, and it’s easy to use. It provides the necessary collaboration and workflow tools to streamline your project—all these in a simple and intuitive design.

All the features listed above prove that Asana is valuable for all types of teams: marketers, engineers, designers, IT professionals, and others.

But let’s hear it from the Asana users.

Benedikt, a specialist in information technology, said the following on the G2 Review Portal:

“The ease of its use is great. Because it is effortless to create a task, Asana is a tool that adjusts very easily to your workflow. Your entire workgroup can edit tasks, and asana also allows you to tag tasks and mention other people in these tasks, and it also has quick access, which makes it much more special.”

Marlon H, A Digital Marketing Manager, also on G2 Reviews, said this about Asana:

“Asana is a tool that is periodically updated without the need to pay an additional cost. This update happens to add new functions - this is very important for my team. I started using the free trial after a week. Feel free to buy their services, because it has the best tools and functions - it makes all my work much easier. I have also been able to create projects and add tasks and subtasks to them, which I find incredible since I can better track my projects and daily activities. I can customize my work tool, the interface is extremely intuitive, and you can create your projects in different ways, schedule, list, calendar, and board.”

Here you can find more Asana reviews from the G2 Review community.

Asana is a software or app is mostly for team management. A single individual will not find as much use for it.

The only use we found for a single person (sort of) is if only one person carries out a project - this individual’s work can be managed through Asana, although the functions might be limited.

For one-person tasks, the Friday Planner gives you all the functionality you need to organize and manage your tasks. 

Asana is excellent for teams. You can assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, track progress, approve/disapprove and comment on a completed task.

As with anything, there are always some advantages and disadvantages when it comes to Asana. 

Here we list a few for you, so you don’t have to find out for yourself.

User experience : The user interface is easy to use - it is very intuitive. It also can color-code pretty much everything, so it is nicely and neatly organized and clear.

Work efficiency: It allows its users to see all the tasks at hand. This helps the team focus on what is urgent and schedule what may be less critical.

Integrations: Asana integrates well with other apps like Friday; please see below for more information and detail regarding this topic.

Free plan: Small groups and individuals may not have the financial resources to invest in costly project management software. Nonetheless, these technologies are critical to a company's success. Asana, fortunately, includes a free plan that lets organizations on a tight budget use the platform.

One task, one person - You can’t assign multiple people to one single task - thankfully, the Friday integration helps with that.

Lack of Two-factor Authentication - This can be a security issue and potential drawback. The 2FA is used to prevent cyber attacks and security breaches, which can cause a lot of damage if you keep sensitive information in your Asana project management system.

Not very newbie-friendly - Asana is popular among experienced project managers. On the other hand, the technology can overwhelm novice users.

Asana is not a monopoly in project management apps. It competes with Trello, Monday, ClickUp, JIRA, among others. 

Here, we look at these competitors as we point out some of the differences between them.

Asana is more task-oriented and has improved workflow functionality.

Learn more about Asana as a leading work management platform and how it integrates with Friday.

Asana Overview: What It Is & How It Works

Asana Overview: How It Works & Why You Should Integrate with Friday

The ambitious among us know how hard committing to long-term goals can be. Try as you might, it does sometimes seem impossible to make real progress. In the event of a failure, you might chalk it up to distractions, other responsibilities, time limits or a good helping of procrastination, but what if I told you that you had set those goals inefficiently? Or what if I said that the only thing you’d really set was yourself, up for failure?

Goal-setting theory believes that proper formulation of effective goals has a direct influence on your achieving of them, not too dissimilar from the “If you build it, he will come” mantra in late-80’s classic movie Field of Dreams. 

Scientists now agree that the brain uses 20% of our total energy, suggesting it’s usually up to quite a bit of thinking. The secret to goal-setting is to optimize the way in which we perceive our goals – a sort of psychological optimization – as means to implement more productive attitudes.

If you set a goal, it’s more likely to happen. 

Goal-setting theory suggests that people can achieve various feats by setting effective goals, and that people are more likely to achieve their goals when they have a suitable action plan.

In A Theory of Goal Setting & Task Performance, Edwin Locke and Gary Latham explain that “goal setting theory is based on the simplest of introspective observations, namely, that conscious human behavior is purposeful... [thus] the domain of goal setting theory lies within the domain of purposefully-directed action.”

In simpler terms, goal-setting theory is concerned with the relationship between goal and motivation, whereby the very act of goal-setting can positively influence the acquisition of said goal.

“The theory focuses on the question of why some people perform better on work tasks than others,” Locke and Latham continue, “If they are equal in ability and knowledge, then the cause must be motivational.” 

Goal-setting theory helps in numerous settings. For example, within education, where students are oftentimes barraged by many targets at once, the theory allows students to prioritise their goals and track their achievement, nurturing an underlying love and appreciation for learning (higher grades!). In business scenarios, goal-setting allows both employers to motivate their workforce and employee to set goals relevant to their career ambitions.

By applying some goal-setting theory, you too can learn how better to focus on your highest-priority targets and form plans for achieving the most ambitious of undertakings!

Aside from a generous sprinkle of aspiration, there are three core skills that goal-setting requires to be successful at work:

Conceptual Thinking: typically, you start a long distance from your goal, with many obstacles and complications between. In order to enact useful, viable goal-setting practices, individuals must first understand the situation, using their ability to think critically. Without this skill, you will not be able to develop your goals, or convert them into smaller, more manageable parts. If you do not know how to turn an ambition into actionable steps, it will be impossible to get anywhere.

Planning/Organization: You simply cannot achieve any significant, long-term vision without the necessary preparations and consistent planning. An unplanned endeavour is like trying to cross a lake in a rowboat with no paddle... You may luckily drift somewhere near, but there’s no way you’re getting anywhere soon. Likewise, a huge portion of time-waste can be avoided by adhering to simple organizational practices, such as a dedicated space for work, or ensuring you store your data or files efficiently.

Self-Motivation: Also called willpower, this skill is notoriously difficult to measure. Obviously, if you’re not motivated, you won’t attain your goals, but self-motivation can absolutely be learned and refined. Much of the time, motivation is dependent on an individual’s self-efficacy, one’s belief in oneself that they have the ability needed to complete a task (more on this later). 

When you’re setting goals, you should always consider your motivation for doing it; if you can’t see sufficient reason (output, gain, results), or if there seems too little value within those reasons, think twice about investing in such a pursuit?

Aside from these goals, there are numerous other skills that will be favorable to any kind of work, including determination, resilience, and creativity.

However, don’t forget that goals are influenced by external factors, too. According to Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory (1964), “motivation also is influenced by the employee’s perceived chances of getting various outcomes as a result of accomplishing his or her performance goal.”

Setting goals is the exhilarating act of attempting to transform the intangible and unknowable into the measurable and achievable. When done right, it allows you to commit focus, evaluate progress and adjust a plan as needed. There are some basic steps to follow:

If you closed your eyes, spun around 15 times and were then asked to point to the door, could you do it? Likewise, there’s little chance you’re going to have success with goal-acquisition if you are blind to the actual thing you want to achieve. As Locke & Latham wrote, in a 2013 work , “a specific, high goal leads to a higher performance than no goal, or an abstract goal such as to do your best.”

The first step towards greatness is to identity this specific goal, the rationale behind doing it and the potential benefits of completing it; treat your goals to some full-on analysis. Once you’ve convinced yourself something is worth doing, avoid vague terminology (“do your best”) and instead have yourself aim for an explicit, quantifiable statement.

In Goal Setting, project management specialist Michael Dobson (et al) poses a striking question to determine whether an action is goal-critical. He writes that “criteria often used to rank concerns are importance and urgency*. With regard to importance, consider the impact of each concern on your goals... What kind of an effect will this activity have on your reaching your goals?”

* If you’re interested in learning about the difference between “urgent” and “important” tasks, consider reading up on the Eisenhower Matrix

There exists the old mantra, “a problem shared is a problem halved,” but how about a problem halved is a problem... well, halved. Break your beefy, long-term goal into smaller goals and alter the perceived difficulty of the larger project.

By changing your perception, you can temporarily trick yourself into focusing on these smaller tasks, which seem very doable, instead of worrying about the daunting entirety of the project. 

For example, the goal “lose weight” isn’t specific, meaning it’s hard to gauge direction. Alternatively, “lose 2 pounds a week” or “go to the gym 10 times this month” are measurable and seem a lot easier, even though they are both working towards the same ambition.

Use goal setting to improve your work and life. Learn about goal-setting theory and how to apply it to make a difference in achieving your goals.

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