I am a big fan of Notion and I use it every day for personal and professional tasks. It is the first application I open in the morning to see my day's routine. I use Notion for more than just planning, but also for taking notes, bookmarking articles, and so on.
Is Notion new to you?
If you haven’t heard of Notion or you don’t know where to start, I suggest visiting its website at notion.so. It might look a little confusing at first, but it is worth to spend your time to become a senior user of it.
Hints for defining goals
There are goals in each person's mind. However, it is important to make them clear on paper. A well-defined goal should be SMART:
- Specific: the goal is crystal clear. When you read it later, it is not confusing to you.
- Measurable: it must be measurable. Without this, there could be confusion whether the key result was achieved or not.
- Attainable: you should be able to reach the goal if you have the right tools.
- Realistic: be honest with yourself and avoid being too optimistic.
- Timely: make your goals time-bounded. Knowing a deadline will help you make the appropriate decisions. Furthermore, it will help you see your vision better.
If it is necessary, break down goals into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Example (from my 2022 goals): One of 2022 goals was to strengthen my German language skill. Here is what I wrote down in the SMART way: Pass B1 exam by end of the year. As a side note, I’m glad that I reached it.
Notion template to write goals
I have created a Notion template for setting goals. I use this template for short-term and long-term goals.
It is publicly available at Yearly Goals Template (with samples). I made multiple views filters by status and area.
You can duplicate the template and fill it with your goals and data. There is text data in the Note column, and you may want to put links to other pages.
Conclusion
I mentioned earlier, I use Notion to store almost everything. My goal page contains links to other pages with additional data. It helps you to focus better on your goals by having goals next to the diary, To-Do list, bookmark, etc.
Before finishing this post, I would like to ask you that, what other tools do you use for setting your short and long-term goals? And Which techniques you use to write your goals?
