2016 Goal Reflections & 5 Ways to Boost Your Productivity

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reflecting on the goals that I set for myself back at the beginning of the year.  As I read through them, I am embarrassed to say that I haven’t completed many of them.

Looking Back at My 2016 Goals

Some of them I can understand why I didn’t achieve them.  This year, I’ve been working with Paige through her Fitness Business Professionals program and my goals completed took a different direction thanks to her expertise and guidance.  Photography and learning my DSLR have taken the backseat as I learn and maneuver my way to creating a business.

I haven’t been able to take a vacation considering many other obligations I’ve (happily) committed to attending.

I decided to not run in the Baltimore Half Marathon that I signed up for last year.  My body was just not feeling the training and this point in the year, I wasn’t mentally ready.

Whether it was me listening to my body and backing out of a race, or taking a different business approach, or filling my time with other meaningful trips and events – I am not beating myself up for not achieving the original goals.  I learned a lot from changing these goals and I see myself happier in the long run.

 

However, next comes the not so great part….what I wish I had done.  I really don’t want to sit here and make excuses, but a lot of the things I wanted to accomplish one way or another just slipped from the picture.  What makes me most frustrated with myself about that is that they were blogging and professional goals.  Those should have come first.

Reflecting on why certain goals were not accomplished really boils down to my productivity.  I’ve thought about what has worked for me in the past in terms of getting things done, what doesn’t work for me, and what I’ve been doing in my daily routine that has positively and negatively impacted my work ethic and productivity.  These are the changes I plan on making ASAP and what I plan on doing moving forward to help me achieve my goals and become more successful:

 

Schedule ‘power hours’

This is a little trick I learned from Paige.  She does these all the time and it really does work.  Set aside 1 hour of your day to stay off of all social media/phones and away from all other distraction and get as much done on your to-do list as you can.  It seriously is the best!

Save Netflix for the weekends

I’ve been doing this thing where I will try and blog and watch Netflix at the same time.  Half the time I just end up bailing on the post I intended to write and completely immerse myself into the show.  The other half of the time I complete writing the post but don’t feel 100% about my language because I was doing something else at the same time.  While only watching Netflix on the weekends is a tad unrealistic  (this girl NEEDS her mindless TV-watching), I plan on cutting back big time.

Weeknights are for blogging and reading

My full-time job hours are all over the place but most nights I get home between 7:00-8:30pm.  Once I make dinner and shower, I really just want to go to sleep.  If I really utilize my time and strategize what I need to get done each night of the week, my tasks won’t seem as daunting.

Get out of the apartment to get work done

I get so much more done at coffee shops or the library.  When I am at home, I tend to do laundry, organize things, and do other things around the apartment all at the same time I am trying to do work.  I just need to go to a coffee shop for power hours and I’d be golden.

Stick to the content calendar!

This needs to be my main goal for blogging and everything else will fall into place.  DAMNIT SARA, STICK TO THE CALENDAR!

 

Thank you for letting me Think Out Loud, Amanda!

 

Your turn!

-Have you reflected on the goals you set for yourself this year?

-How often do you set goals for yourself?

-How do you handle the stress of not achieving a goal?

-What is one goal you are working towards right now?