Every new year we come up with new things that we would like to change – and that is no surprise. It is also not surprising that most of the goals that we would like to complete fail within the first two weeks. There is a very simple reason for this: big life-changing goals are hard to make into habits. While they may be difficult stick to, your new year resolutions are not impossible to accomplish. However, if you expect to change long-ingrained habits, you need a concrete way to track progress toward your goals.
David Seah is a designer who created the Concrete Goals Tracker. The original purpose of the goals tracker was to allow him to ensure that he was spending time doing the things that truly made his business better. The great thing is, he made an editable version – which means that you can use it for just about anything that you want.
The Concrete Goals Tracker allots points for specific tasks that help to further an overall change that you want to see. For example, since I am freelancing I use the goals tracker to make certain that I am spending the majority of my time doing things that will sustain and grow my business. Although writing blog posts may be fun, it does not pay the bills (or the taxes involved with a business). However, that doesn’t mean that blogging and self-promotion is not important to a business, but they are not as important as signing up new clients.
Just to reiterate, the purpose of the goal tracker is not to be a task management system that you use forever. You will most likely use it for a few weeks to a few months in order to change your mindset and habits toward your goals. For a full explanation of the free template and to actually download it, you can head over to David Seah’s site.
Hey everyone! I had an epiphany (no pun intended) this advent season that has literally changed my life, and also how I get things done throughout the day. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so you’ll need to check out the video, but it’s somewhat along the lines of the Getting Things Done Like the Saints series.
Let me know what you think, am I stretching this whole thing a bit, or am I on the right track?
You and I need to be leaders! What else can I say? Leadership is the single attribute that will grow your career, help everyone around you, and save the world. Why do I say that? I say it because it’s true. Leadership and decision-making is a rare commodity among in the workforce and within the Church. If you don’t believe me, why the heck do you think companies pay thousands of dollars per employee to have them go on weekend retreats where they learn team building and fall back into the arms of someone they “trust”? Leadership is powerful, and the driving force behind any successful venture. Read the full story
Okay, so I’ve been noticing that I’ve been getting a little thick around the mid-section. Now, you are probably thinking, ” No way Dean, you are both sleek and svelte. I refuse to believe there is an ounce of fat on that wonderful temple of the Holy Spirit of yours!” Sadly, it’s true, I have been gaining some major pounds because of my desk job. But that’s okay, I know just how to fix that – the productive way! Read the full story
With the pro-life battle raging in the U.S. legislature, I thought that it be fitting to look at the life of the most popular pro-life saint (they are all pro-life, obviously) from the 20th century. I venture to say that just about everyone who is Catholic and actually practices their faith knows who St. Gianna is. In short, she was a physician that gave up her life in order for her child to come into the world. The great thing about her that I find most attractive – other than the fact that she was very cosmopolitan and a purveyor of the latest fashions of her day – is that she was a working professional. Read the full story
I have always been jealous of how many of the saints were able to get a thousand things done in a day, do so on 2-4 hours of sleep, and when they weren’t praying they were able to learn more stuff in a few days than a normal human could in a few years. Of course, they were able to do all of this by the grace of God and through their daily reception of the Eucharist, but for the rest of us who are struggling just to find time to pray one rosary a day – I thought a little cheating might be in order. Read the full story
The web is full of tools out there that claim to help you to be more productive, and for the most part they are right. The problem is that with all of these applications, it is very easy for all of your tasks, events, and documents to become fragmented. It’s hard to resist the urge to try out the latest and greatest web app out there (yes guys, I am looking in your direction) just for the sake of trying it out. Therefore, I thought that I’d give my picks for the top productivity focused web applications of 2009. These are all apps that I use on a daily basis, and you would find me in a fetal position off in the corner if I were ever left without them. I assure you that these are not original or spectacular, but they’ve allowed me to get things done.
For the past few days, I have been wracking by brain as to how a Catholic view of work and success could be sharply distinguished from a secular view. There are a whole host of people out there like Gary Vaynerchuk, Tim Ferris, and Ramit Sethithat have great ideas on how to be fulfilled in what you do, but is that all that is needed to be completely happy? If it were, just doing what you are passionate about in the most efficient way possible would bring complete happiness and there would be no need for religion or philosophy at all. To me, there had to be something lacking in secular methods of productivity. Read the full story
Originally, I was hesitant to do book reviews on this blog because I wasn’t sure if they were appropriate for it’s theme. But after reading Trust Agents, my tune was changed. In fact, this particular book – while its direct subject is not productivity – it indirectly teaches its readers to leverage social media to accomplish projects more efficiently than can ever be done otherwise. For that, I thought it necessary to write about it. Read the full story
The Getting Things Done™ framework is great and has revolutionized the way many people handle tasks and projects. But, wouldn’t it be nice to collaborate with others who also use GTD in a way that is seemless and easily accessible? Producteev™ allows you to do just that – and more! Read the full story
David Seah is a designer who created the Concrete Goals Tracker. The original purpose of the goals tracker was to allow him to ensure that he was spending time doing the things that truly made his business better. The great thing is, he made an editable version – which means that you can use it for just about anything that you want.
