Setting and Managing Daily Goals

Daily Goals

Some people struggle with daily goals. Some people struggle with them, A LOT.

Setting Daily Goals

Daily goals should be planned out the night before. If a task feels too large, break it down into pieces.

Let’s say my goal for tomorrow is to add a feature to my Slide Deck Presentation Tool. This feature will allow me to filter a set of slides, removing those I’ve set to “hidden.”

I would break this feature down into parts:

1. Set a “hidden” key/value on a deck.
2. Adjust the service that loads a deck to include or remove “hidden” slides optionally. When presenting, they need to be hidden. When editing, they need to be visible.
3. Change the presentation part of the application to load a deck without “hidden” slides.
4. Change the editing part of the application to load a deck with “hidden” slides.
5. Verify functionality.
6. Write and verify Unit Tests.

Now, looking at this, some of the tasks are significantly harder than others.

I usually recommend that we order them from easiest to hardest … this becomes:

1. Set a “hidden” key/value on a deck.
2. Change the presentation part of the application to load a deck without “hidden” slides.
3. Change the editing part of the application to load a deck with “hidden” slides.
4. Adjust the service that loads a deck to include or remove “hidden” slides optionally. When presenting, they need to be hidden. When editing, they need to be visible.
5. Write and verify Unit Tests.
6. Verify functionality.

Remembering Daily Goals

Some people have trouble remembering to get to their daily goals.

Some people have trouble remembering they have daily goals.

In my opinion, the simplest solution is to get a whiteboard and list the goals, easiest to hardest, in a place you will see them daily, probably someplace near your computer.

This way, your goals are always there and ready to go when you are!

Daily Goals on Off Days

Off days.

This can be a day where you don’t want to do anything.

This can be a day where the goals seem to be too difficult.

This can be a day where life simply wants to get in the way.

The reason that I grouped the goals easiest to hardest is practical ...

• On the day where you’re having an “off day,” tackle the goals easiest first.
• On the day that you’re fired up, tackle the hardest first.

Also realize that there are days where you will scrap all the goals and take some time off. We all need down time - time to rest and recuperate.

Your Take

What would you add to this take on Daily Goals? What would you change?