Get Ready for 2010: Goal-Setting for Beginners

As 2009 comes to a close, it's natural to look back over the year's accomplishments and pitfalls and to think about what we want to achieve in the new year. I've never been one for resolutions, and I used to think it was because it felt so cliche. But I'm starting to see that it was because I had no idea how to set goals.

Oh, sure -- I knew how to say "this year I'm going to get organized!" But moving beyond that generalized wish? I'd often get stuck. I needed a plan for "making a plan"!

I've read plenty of books on getting organized, but, for some reason, this year, it finally sunk in. To set goals and actually accomplish them, you need to focus your attention on the small steps that will take you all the way to the finish. Here's what's working for me:

Writing it down
The humble to-do list. It's a godsend. But only if it works for you. In the past, my to-do lists would either overwhelm me, or they'd get lost or forgotten. I've finally found a to-do/task management app that solves both of those problems. Things for the iPhone serves as a bucket for ideas, a simple to-do list, a task scheduler, and a goal-setting tool. With the help of Things, I hosted my first Thanksgiving (a multi-step project if there ever was one) with nary a drop of sweat.

What I love about Things is that I can throw to-dos into a general bucket (the Inbox) as I think about them, and can later sort them into time-sensitive piles ("Today," "Someday," or "Scheduled"). I can tag them by context ("Errand," "Phone," "Computer") so I can quickly see what I have to do when I'm either out and about or sitting in my home office.

Breaking it down
In Things, I can set up entire clusters of to-dos under a Project, so not only am I reminding myself what needs to be done, I'm naturally breaking projects into more manageable tasks. Mentally swap "Projects" for "Resolutions" and we're onto something here.

Checking it off
Even huge goals can be broken down into steps. Once you schedule those steps on the calendar and systematically get them done, you'll be amazed by how quickly you'll progress toward your goals. I can't emphasize enough how good it feels to see -- really see -- that goals don't need to linger, indefinitely, on the horizon.

Things is available for the Mac as well as for the iPhone. Of course, any to-do app or paper calendar can work just as well as long as you can customize it to fit the way you think. (Trying to alter the way I think in order to wedge myself into a productivity system has never worked for me.)

Finally, for inspiration, read Unclutter Your Life In One Week by Erin Doland of Unclutterer.com. Fantastic book, and the perfect way to begin the new year.

Related: 7 Tech Tools to Supercharge Your Productivity and Top 10 Lifehack Blogs

What are your top tips for getting organized?
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Asha Dornfest is the founder of Parent Hacks -- where savvy parents swap clever, often unconventional, parenting tips. Here's the practical, real-world stuff you'll never find in an "expert" book. Featured in Real Simple, Parents, and PC Magazine.