5 Ways to Set Goals Without Being Overwhelmed

by Barbara Latta

Each new year brings advice on setting goals and resolutions. I don’t make resolutions

5 ways to set goals

anymore because I don’t keep them. But we should never stop setting goals and one way to make sure we meet the finish line is to make sure the prize before us is not overwhelming.

Multi-tasking has become a word associated with skill and success. The idea is that we accomplish more in less time, but in reality doing more than one thing at a time divides our attention and nothing gets 100% of the effort.

Here are 5 ways to set goals without being overwhelmed:

1. Don’t compare your goals to someone else’s. We are all individuals with different needs and desires. What someone else does cannot fulfill the need in your own life.
2. Don’t try to multi-task and take on too many things at once. Our brains are wired to focus on one thing at a time. Trying to switch gears from one act to another can sabotage the goal of finishing what we started. When attention is divided the brain has to stop and start thinking again about what has to be done.
3. Stay focused on the task at hand so productivity is not lost. When the brain has to stop and start all over again, we can lose our place and become frustrated.  I have experienced this in my work. When too many things are piled up on my desk and I start on several things at once, I get confused and make mistakes. Finish one thing at a time. This is something I have to consistently work on.
4. Don’t get distracted – this can apply to all areas of life whether driving, cooking or cleaning the house. Accidents are prevalent when a driver on a cell phone can not give 100% of the attention to the road and the same principle applies to accomplishing a goal. Distraction prevents completion and can result in the loss of items we need for finishing the work. Just like in the example above, I have lost documents this way and had to spend more time trying to retrace my steps and find them.
5. Focus on one at a time – while we may need to pursue more than one goal each day, it’s important to focus on one at a time. When I try to clean out the refrigerator and then pass a table full of dust while putting my dogs out which leads to the fact that the dogs need a bath and then I find I am out of dog shampoo so I need to go to the store to get more…the first thing I started is still not finished. Yes, all those things need to be done, but they can be done in order which is why I try to write down what I want to do each day.

Short term memory is affected when we try to multi-task. A study created a visual  experiment by flashing images to a group of participants and then quickly changing the pictures; the group viewing the images had a difficult time switching back to the first picture or remembering details about it.

We aren’t as good at multi-tasking as we think we are. Students who study while watching TV, talking on their cell phone or playing video games make lower grades than those who study without distraction. Anything we do deserves our undivided attention. Once we accomplish the goal at hand, we are then ready to tackle the next thing on the list.

Paul stated,  “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14 NKJV). Staying focused on the present goal can produce excellence in work, study, hobbies and relationships.

Set your goals but don’t let them overwhelm you. Have a productive and safe 2019.

Join the conversation and share your thoughts.

5 ways set goals without being overwhelmed (click to tweet)

Multi-tasking doesn’t produce effective goal setting (clickto tweet)