Sooo…What do you want to work on?

–The Classic Therapist Opening Line

At the beginning of the day or in the midst of the day … a wave of overwhelm can takeover. Too many things going on right now. And at the end of the day you may ask yourself, What did I do today? What got done? Did it need to?

When asked to prioritize … What comes up?

Relationships and social connection? Health and physical movement? Developing a career? Learning a new skill?

Need to identify priorities?

Psychologist Russ Harris uses Tobias Lungren’s Bullseye – to help people identify what they want to move toward.

What’s the Bullseye? The Bullseye is a circle, divided into four quadrants – allowing you to compare progress within areas of your life, identifying values, while asking: What do I want to work toward? And, how will I practice my values – while working toward this goal?¹ ²

Yes, I continue to bring up values, because values are the underlying purpose and intention of your goals.

Who am I? What is my intention? Your answers to these questions help empower you commit to practicing your goals. This philosophical reasoning brings light to discovering your intentions – which can change over time. (Addressed in therapy.)

If your goal is to develop relationships with the value of authenticity – you may practice authenticity by meeting people through acts of service – giving back to your community, volunteering – and meeting other volunteers who are doing the same work.

In order to meet people and foster connection, you can start with:

*Review volunteer opportunities on social media.

*Reach out to find out about meet up events.

*Look at a map to find events, gyms, yoga studios and educational opportunities within the ten mile radius of home location (or workplace, if that increases potential for follow-thru.)

Want to increase your follow-through?

Try unpacking your goal into SMART goal format (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) and delve into:

*Attend two networking events, per month

*Coffee shop on Mondays

*Volunteer opportunities, one per week

*Send out one social connection text message per day – inviting others to volunteer opportunity.

When writing out your goal, commit to the time + location of when and where the practice will take place³ ⁴

*8 AM, at office desk: Text song of the day to friends.

And what makes us feel good? Follow through – and being able to re-evaluate whether these actions are moving toward the goal. Or, if they need to change.

Planners and Organization. What works best for you?

(I recently posted about creating a post-it note weekly habit-log for your desk – to stick on your computer, within eyesight.)

Organizing can be overwhelming. Everyone is different. Some of us appreciate a daily planner (of which there are many types) and some people rely on computers, post-its, phones, or shared calendars.

If your current method is working, great!

If you feel it could be improved, it’s time to review (and try) other methods …

This seven minute video can help you identify the right planner/notebook for you.
JetPens also has an excellent article on how to choose your planner.
Bullet journal videos provide methods for organizing and tracking.

Some popular planners and notebooks:

The Productivity Planner (by Intelligent Change)
Leuchtturm1917 Notebooks (which include the Leuchtturm variation of the Bullet Journal)
The Hobonichi Techo
The Hero’s Planner

[The above planners and notebooks have been recommended by people I work with. Do you have recommendations? Let me know.]

Review. Review. Review. Time 🕰️ throughout your day. How is your time spent?

If your daily, weekly and monthly goals are getting crossed off your list – that’s great.

If you aren’t crossing things off the list … Why is that?

What are you doing instead? Other priorities that need to be added to the list?

Or, if you are avoiding things you need to get done – in favor of escape. If so, what is that escape?

Distractors getting in the way?

Video games, Tik Tok, just one gummy, or a quick trip to the casino?

How can you block Distractors out?

If its social media apps – maybe it’s time you relegate them to a special place – or delete them all together.
Video games keep luring you in? Look into video game time blockers (they are out there.)
Turn off notifications.
Where do you feel the least distracted? Sit in a delegated space (or clear out the space you want to be – this may be outside of your home.)
Put your phone away.
And if it’s hard to avoid the what ifs about emails, phone calls – and other things – use the pomodoro method (setting a timer for 25 minutes.)

Distractors keep taking over?

It’s time to delve into why that is and why (or if) your goals are important. In therapy. Let’s talk about it.

Interested in more tools? The List: Organize and Conquer mentions time blocking, developing inspiring mottos, the power of breaks and various techniques for tracking and organizing.

Interested in finding values within your goals? Read my article about navigating goals and using values as your compass.

Interested in Understanding Distractor parts – and parts in general? Read my article on Identifying Values and Parts (which includes a practice worksheet.)

References

1
Harris, R. (2008). The happiness trap: How to stop struggling and start living. Trumpeter Books.
2
Tobias Lundgren, Jason B. Luoma, JoAnne Dahl, Kirk Strosahl, Lennart Melin, The Bull’s-Eye Values Survey: A Psychometric Evaluation, Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, Volume 19, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 518-526, ISSN 1077-7229, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2012.01.004
3
Clear, James. (2018). Atomic Habits: an easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones (PDF ed.). New York: Avery.
4
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting & task performance. Prentice-Hall, Inc

Goals. The Development and Practice.