Success doesn’t happen by chance; it’s the result of planning, focus, and continuous improvement. Whether your goals are personal or professional, creating a roadmap for your journey is the first step toward making this year a success.
Building Productivity Into Your Plan
Productivity is the ability to get things done. If you’re not getting things done, you’re not being productive.
But what does “getting it done” actually mean? It could refer to completing your work, but it might also mean doing something that makes your day easier — like going for a walk or taking a well-being break.
It’s about maximising your day to make time for what matters, whether that’s spending quality moments with loved ones or relaxing with a good TV show before bed. If you’re feeling like you’re not accomplishing enough in a day or are stressed out, productivity might be the solution!
The formal definition of productivity is: "the effectiveness of productive effort, especially in industry, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input."
In simpler terms, it’s about getting things done in the best possible way for you and your goals.
Example:
Imagine visiting a new city and needing to travel from point A to point B. You have several options:
Take the quickest route from A to B.
Walk the scenic route.
Choose the route with the least walking.
Stop by a favourite café on the way.
The route you choose depends on your current goals. For instance, you might pick option one if you have a meeting soon, or option two if you’re aiming to walk more this year.
Key takeaway: Productivity isn’t about how many hours you spend at your desk—It’s about how much you get done, how much value you create, and what kind of impact you have. So, when we say "be productive," we’re not just saying to work harder; we’re encouraging you to work smarter—getting more done in the time you have.
So, how can you start being productive? First, you need to know where you’re heading.
How Do You Create Goals to Be More Productive?
Have you ever set a goal for yourself and started with the best of intentions, going to the gym four times a week, and after a week or two, it really seems like this time it’s going to stick, and you’ll be a fitness queen. You start strong, but by week three or four, you’ve skipped a session, and soon, you’re dreading the idea of going back.
Achieving goals and being productive is challenging, but managing them correctly makes success more attainable.
Research from Forbes shows that people who vividly describe their goals in writing are 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to succeed than those who don’t.
Here’s how you can structure and refine your goals to be kinder to yourself, stay motivated and be productive with your time using macro, micro, and S.M.A.R.T. goals, as well as a 90-day plan, essentially, how you will get from A to B.
Macro, Micro, and S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Macro goals: These are your overarching objectives — your “why”.
Micro goals: The smaller steps required to achieve your macro goals.
S.M.A.R.T. goals: Key metrics to track your progress. These should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Example:
If your macro goal is to spend less time online, a micro goal could be breaking the habit of endlessly scrolling on Instagram. A S.M.A.R.T. goal might be to read one book a week as a substitute.
If you want to succeed, you need to work from a macro goal down to a micro SMART goal. Achieving each smaller goal within the set metrics keeps you focused and progressing toward your macro goal.
90-Day Plan
If you have goals for an extended period, creating a 90-day plan is highly beneficial. It ensures you stay on track while making consistent progress and achieving continuous improvement.
This method is often used in employee onboarding processes, but it’s just as effective for personal and professional goal setting. In fact, it’s an excellent way to stay focused and prioritise effectively — because, as amazing as you are, you can’t do everything at once.
A great template for a 90-day plan includes defining your focus, setting your goals, outlining your priorities, and determining metrics for success for each month of the quarter. These elements can change month by month or progressively bring you closer to your macro goal.
If your macro goal is to spend less time online, your micro goal might be to break the habit of scrolling through Instagram reels (as you’ve noticed from the wellbeing app on your phone that you’re spending a lot of time doing this daily). To achieve this, you set a SMART goal to read one book a week. For every 30 days of your 90-day plan, you’ll focus on reducing screen time, progressing toward your goal of breaking the habit, prioritising reading, and measuring success by reading one book a week — which equates to four books a month or 12 books per quarter.
How to Ensure Productivity When Achieving Your Goals
Once you have written your goals and/or 90-day plan, you can start getting things done. The next level is understanding how to get from A to B in the best way possible for you and your goals.
At the end of the first quarter, it’s time to reflect and make suitable changes. This is what takes you from simply having goals (getting from A to B) into continuously improving how you achieve them (getting from A to B in the best way possible).
The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle is a simple yet effective model to incorporate into your overall workflow. Whether you’re working towards your goals or managing a project for a client, it’s essential to schedule moments to take a breath, reflect, and assess if you’re moving in the right direction. Similar to using Google Maps, you might need to stop and recalibrate your GPS before continuing down the next street.
When using this method, you first identify the problem you need to solve, outline a series of potential solutions, and choose one to test. After a set period, you gather data to assess whether the problem is being solved and make necessary adjustments.
If you’re already working on your goals and executing your 90-day plan (essentially completing the Plan and Do stages), all that’s left is to add the Check and Act stages. For example, you might have successfully achieved your smaller goals and feel ready to add a new goal or increase the metrics to make further progress towards your macro goal. In addition to reading one book a week, you might decide to listen to a podcast weekly. Using the same template, you can add this new goal to your 90-day plan for the second quarter while maintaining the first one.
Alternatively, you may discover that reading one book a week was too challenging. Instead, you could identify an activity you enjoy more or adjust the goal to reading two books a month to be kinder to yourself. You’ll still support your overall macro goal while modifying your SMART goal or metrics of success to stay motivated. This approach ensures you keep progressing without feeling discouraged or pinning yourself as a failure.
To Conclude...
In summary, when you know what you want to achieve and have a clear plan to get there, it becomes easier to focus on what truly matters and stay productive while accomplishing your tasks. This is especially important if your goal is a broad, overarching one that requires making numerous smaller decisions along the way. By setting goals in a way that helps you prioritise and adapt as needed, you’ll be better positioned to continue progressing and ultimately achieve success.
To make your year successful:
Identify your goals.
Break them down into actionable steps.
Use tools like the 90-day plan and PDCA cycle to stay focused and adaptable.
Remember, productivity isn’t just about working hard. It’s about working smart, aligning your actions with your purpose, and continuously improving along the way.
Preiti is a Certified Scrum Master with 8+ years of experience in professional B2B and B2C services, both agency and client-side, where she has continuously driven exceptional client services and business operations. She has a knack for identifying better ways of working, implementing improvements, problem-solving and generally takes pride in ensuring clients, colleagues, and the business as a whole are performing to the best of its abilities.
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