How do you manage your life?

As many people do at the turn of the year, I have set goals for the new year and reflected which goals I have achieved last year and which I’ve missed. I have focussed my reflection on the question, why did I not achieve some of my goals? Did I really want to achieve these goals? Did I set too many goals? Were the goals too big or too general — and not SMART? SMART is a method that goals should be

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time bound

But I have set my goals according to these criteria. After some deliberation, it got clear to me that in fact I took only occasionally time to take steps towards my goals. At the end of the year I have gone many steps, but with two goals I ended up still far from accomplishing them. Now one could say: “After all, you achieved some of your goals and took many steps in the right direction”. But this is not my way of thinking. Of course, I could finish the remaining steps this year, but in consequence I can’t go for what I have planned for this year.

While I thought about the way I planned my time from day to day, I noticed that all kinds of other topics were more urgent. This is a well-known problem. Every time management book or seminar covers the Eisenhower box, where every task should be judged according to its urgency and importance. Most people naturally tend to work mainly on urgent tasks, with the result that the really important topics (family, health, meaning of life, long-term goals, …) are neglected. If one comes into a serious crisis or something runs out of control (marriage crisis, illness, burnout, …). At this stage, the topic becomes also urgent but is then much more difficult to solve.

Having all the knowledge about time management how could I also fell in this trap last year? Was it a lack of self-discipline? No, rather not. Was it a lack of focus? More likely. But I have clearly defined my goals and visualized them in a mind map. How did I go on? I have written down my tasks which I manage electronically (apart from post-its). Then I have transferred the most important tasks to my paper-based calendar. However, only in my private calendar, which I run in a different way as my business calendar. For business, I have set my goals in an Excel spreadsheet, manage the tasks in a different task management app and two ticketing tools. Here’s the problem! Suddenly I am not surprised anymore that I lost track of my priorities since I am using way too many different tools. In addition to this, there are many unpredictable urgent topics when you working in a team with many people.

Therefore, I have searched for a tool to manage my goals, tasks and calendar in one place — ideally for business and private use. I have tried many different tools. But tools for goal planning (Mindmeister, Excel, …) are somewhat limited for task management and unsuitable for planning the day. Task management programs (Todoist, Wunderlist, Omnifocus, …) are hampered to keep track of the goals and inappropriate to replace the calendar. The calendars (Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Apple Calendar, …) are unsuitable to keep track of the goals and impaired to manage tasks.

Hence, I looked at my paper-based calendars (X47, Time/system, Filofax, …) I have used in the past. Surprisingly, they were superior to most digital solutions as they offer calendar and task list at a glance, thus supporting a priority-based planning of the day. Goals can also be planned in the calendar and placed beside for planning.

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