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Creating, Reviewing and Reaching Long Term Goals with RTM

mcaneted says:
This is my 10 step process for creating a system that keeps my Projects coherent with my Long Term Goals.

1. Create a "Goals" list in RTM.

2. Add every LTG (Long Term Goal) with a 0LT prefix. (e.g.: "0LT become economically independent")

3. Add your Middle Term and Short Term Goals. Try to use the "1MT" and/or "2ST" prefix. I use instead Quarterly Goals "1Q", "2Q", "3Q", "4Q" prefixes for them. You can choose what better suits you. The only important thing is to follow the prefix structure so the magic can happen.

4. Create a 4 tag category system in which your goals are grouped. I did this 4:
+ Personal
+ Family
+ Health
+ Work

5. Tag all your goals accordingly.

6. Analyze the relationship between all your goals per area. Make adjustments so that your short term goals are correlated with the longer ones.

7. Tag all Projects tasks according to the 4 area criteria. I excluded from this my "Errands", "Reference" and "One action" lists. The spirit of this is to give real meaning to your Projects, separating them from your urgent but not important chores.

8. Create 4 smart lists (one for each area of focus) with the simple query: tag:"category name" (e.g.: tag:"work"). This will show not only the tasks that you have to do, but the goals associated with each area in order from Long to Short Term. In one view you will know if your to do's are serving my goals. Remember to sort the list "by task name".

9. Create 4 smart lists (one for each area of focus) with the query: completedWithin:"1 week of today" AND tag:"category name" (e.g.: completedWithin:"1 week of today" AND tag:"personal"). Here you see what you have done to achieve your Goals for the past week. The purpose of this query is accountability. In just a glimpse you see if you are procrastinating or really working on the important stuff. Remember to sort the list "by task name".

10. Review this smart lists once a week and make relevant adjustments to have a meaningful life.

By doing this simple practice, I have found cohesion between my life purpose and my everyday tasks.

This is just my personal system, make the changes you need to make it work for you.

Hope you give this a try.
Posted at 2:51am on March 13, 2018
(closed account) says:
This is pretty clever, I will try, thank you for sharing!
Posted 6 years ago
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Hi mcaneted,

Awesome tip! You're this week's Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner, and we've added a free year of Pro to your Remember The Milk account. :)
Posted 5 years ago
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