Try This Method to Organize Your 2024 Goals and Accomplishments

If you want to try a more organized approach to meeting your goals in the coming year, try this monthly schedule designed around both setting tasks and tracking your accomplishments. 

The first step is to create a personal single source of truth, or SSOT, which is essentially repository for all the information and resources related to your work and goals. You can use Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, or any other software that lets you create folders and keep your files organized—the goal here is just to have all the files you regularly use (or plan to frequently use) in a single hub.

Step two is to set your goals at the start of each month. You'll essentially be using Agile Results, which you may have read about before: It's a goal-setting system where you set objectives in the short- and long-term. On the first day of each month, map out five concrete goals for those next four weeks. Track them in your SSOT, where you’ll end up with 12 sets of monthly goals. Your five goals should be specific, detailed, and doable by the end of the month (I'm sure you've heard of SMART goals before—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). And it might help to have broad, annual goals to structure your smaller, progressive steps, so feel free add a sheet of yearly goals into your SSOT, as well. Then track your goals each month within your folders. 

Your last basic step is to make sure you regularly review your accomplishments (and shortcomings). At the end of each month, evaluate your original list of goals (and if you created an annual goal list in your SSOT, add your new successes to that larger list too). Revisiting them is important for more than just productivity—tracking your achievements can help you get a raise, make your performance reviews easier, or help you fill out a resume for your next job. 

Tracking your goals incrementally throughout the year can help you stay on track, and you'll be less likely to forget the wins you racked up month after month. And at the end of the year, you’ll have a portfolio of everything you were able to get done—all in one place.