Getting Goals Done -- With Some Handy Web2.0 Tools By Josh Hinds
Two things need to be addressed right off the bat before I get to deep into this. First, what is web 2.0? now that's a question/buzz word not easily defined without me getting in danger of rambling endlessly in techno babble. And that's something I'm sure you would appreciate me sparing you of anyway, right?
So, here's the short version... Taken right from the definition I got when I plugged the question in to google:
Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes.
source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
Good, I'm glad we got that out of the way :-)
Now let's get down to the meat and potatoes of why I'm writing this, shall we? This leads me to the second point I mentioned above -- being how in the world this web 2.0 thingy fits with achieving ones goals.
Here's something I want you to repeat after me, out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully you really said that outloud, and here's why... because it's quite important, that's why!
If you don't believe me, consider for a moment just how many times you've fell short on accomplishing something because before you knew it, you had moved on to other tasks. Suddenly whatever it was that you just knew you were going to achieve, was replaced with something else. Some other "must get done" task snuck up and took the place of your original goal, right?
If you were really honest with yourself in reading that, I would venture to say that you could identify at least a few instances in your life where just such a thing has happened to you can't you? Hey, this isn't unique to you, it happens to everyone. And here's something to consider, the faster we move in our lives, the more likely it is that more and more of the things that pop-up are going to try and take the place of the things we would like to achieve - and the goals we set.
There are simply too many things that bombard us day in and day out. If we don't take an active role and work to ensure that we stay on track, keeping the things we want to see manifest in our lives, and actively work to keep them clearly in the forefront of our daily lives, we are not likely to make near the progress we could otherwise.
Using Lists to Get More Goals Done...
Hopefully, you didn't discount what I said above. Effective goal setting and goal achieving doesn't have to be terribly complex. I've seen many people that are highly effective goal setters (and achievers) that found that something as simple as using a notepad worked for them.
Simply put, they understood the importance of keeping what they wanted to accomplish at the forefront in their lives. Plain and simple. Oh yeah, and of course taking ample action to move themselves towards the end result they desired. See, we're not talking rocket science. Heck, we're not even close to coming near to a conversation about the theory of relativity.
So now that we've identified the key ingredient of what I believe is essential to effective goal setting (keeping things in sight, so they stay in mind) I'd like to share a few specific things that I do to make my goal setting system work in my own life.
Let me add right here that just because something works for me, doesn't mean it will necessarily do the trick for you, remember, we're not robots walking mindlessly here :) So with that said, by all means give yourself room to tweak any of the ideas you read here. Mix and match the ideas and find what works best for you. Nothing here is written in stone.
Hey What about the Web2.0 Meat and potatoes...
Ok, I'll try my best to make this short and snappy. In fact, I'll write it in a quick outline format so you can digest the ideas quickly and use the bits and pieces that might work for you.
The Web sites / and software:
* I use the Firefox web browser (for reason's I'll mention below)
* RememberTheMilk.com
* tadalist.com
When you visit the web sites you'll notice that all three of the items I use are available free (at least at the time of this writing).
Before I get down to the nuts and bolts of how I use them together, lets take a minute to explore what each of these are (in case you're not familiar with them).
1. Firefox is a web browser. I don't mean to insult your intelligence here, but it still amazes me how many folks out there still think internet explorer is the only game in town. You can learn more about the FireFox browser, as well as download it at http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
2. RememberTheMilk.com - here's the description from their site:
Remember The Milk is the easiest and best way to manage your to-do lists online. Here are just a few of the reasons why it's so cool:
Features galore. Sharing, publishing, notes... we've got it all.
Get reminded. Receive reminders via email, instant
messenger, and SMS.
3. Ta-da Lists - here is the description from their site:
Ta-da makes it easy to...
* Keep track of all the little things you need to get done
* Make lists for other people (co-workers, friends, family)
* Share lists with the world ("My favorite movies of 2004")
* Subscribe to your lists in RSS so you're always on track
So now that we've covered what the items above are, and what you can do with them, let me share with you a handy way to use them together, and at the same time make sure you keep things "in sight and in mind".
First, I set my home page in the Firefox browser to open up multiple sites when the browser opens (or when I choose the "home" icon.
To do this go to: Tools ---> Options --> Then make sure the
"general" tab/button is chosen. Then you will see: Home Page and Location(s). This is where you enter the web address that you want to set to be your home page (or starting page).
What you may not realize is you can actually include more then one web site in that space. Here's an example of how to do that:
Example looks like this:
http://www.rememberthemilk.com | http://www.tadalist.com
In the example above, notice we used the "|" symbol (without the "" of course) to choose more then one site. Then choose the "Ok" button and you're all set!
See how simple that was? Now since I'm on my computer and particularly on the internet a lot of the time anyway, I no longer have to worry about remembering to look over the goals and action tasks I have set for myself.
Sometimes it's the simplest of ideas that makes all the difference with regards to reaching the goals you set for yourself. Give this idea a try and here's wishing you all the best in your goal-setting journey.
To your success, Josh Hinds
© 2005
So, here's the short version... Taken right from the definition I got when I plugged the question in to google:
Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes.
source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
Good, I'm glad we got that out of the way :-)
Now let's get down to the meat and potatoes of why I'm writing this, shall we? This leads me to the second point I mentioned above -- being how in the world this web 2.0 thingy fits with achieving ones goals.
Here's something I want you to repeat after me, out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully you really said that outloud, and here's why... because it's quite important, that's why!
If you don't believe me, consider for a moment just how many times you've fell short on accomplishing something because before you knew it, you had moved on to other tasks. Suddenly whatever it was that you just knew you were going to achieve, was replaced with something else. Some other "must get done" task snuck up and took the place of your original goal, right?
If you were really honest with yourself in reading that, I would venture to say that you could identify at least a few instances in your life where just such a thing has happened to you can't you? Hey, this isn't unique to you, it happens to everyone. And here's something to consider, the faster we move in our lives, the more likely it is that more and more of the things that pop-up are going to try and take the place of the things we would like to achieve - and the goals we set.
There are simply too many things that bombard us day in and day out. If we don't take an active role and work to ensure that we stay on track, keeping the things we want to see manifest in our lives, and actively work to keep them clearly in the forefront of our daily lives, we are not likely to make near the progress we could otherwise.
Using Lists to Get More Goals Done...
Hopefully, you didn't discount what I said above. Effective goal setting and goal achieving doesn't have to be terribly complex. I've seen many people that are highly effective goal setters (and achievers) that found that something as simple as using a notepad worked for them.
Simply put, they understood the importance of keeping what they wanted to accomplish at the forefront in their lives. Plain and simple. Oh yeah, and of course taking ample action to move themselves towards the end result they desired. See, we're not talking rocket science. Heck, we're not even close to coming near to a conversation about the theory of relativity.
So now that we've identified the key ingredient of what I believe is essential to effective goal setting (keeping things in sight, so they stay in mind) I'd like to share a few specific things that I do to make my goal setting system work in my own life.
Let me add right here that just because something works for me, doesn't mean it will necessarily do the trick for you, remember, we're not robots walking mindlessly here :) So with that said, by all means give yourself room to tweak any of the ideas you read here. Mix and match the ideas and find what works best for you. Nothing here is written in stone.
Hey What about the Web2.0 Meat and potatoes...
Ok, I'll try my best to make this short and snappy. In fact, I'll write it in a quick outline format so you can digest the ideas quickly and use the bits and pieces that might work for you.
The Web sites / and software:
* I use the Firefox web browser (for reason's I'll mention below)
* RememberTheMilk.com
* tadalist.com
When you visit the web sites you'll notice that all three of the items I use are available free (at least at the time of this writing).
Before I get down to the nuts and bolts of how I use them together, lets take a minute to explore what each of these are (in case you're not familiar with them).
1. Firefox is a web browser. I don't mean to insult your intelligence here, but it still amazes me how many folks out there still think internet explorer is the only game in town. You can learn more about the FireFox browser, as well as download it at http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
2. RememberTheMilk.com - here's the description from their site:
Remember The Milk is the easiest and best way to manage your to-do lists online. Here are just a few of the reasons why it's so cool:
Features galore. Sharing, publishing, notes... we've got it all.
Get reminded. Receive reminders via email, instant
messenger, and SMS.
screenshot of RememberTheMilk
3. Ta-da Lists - here is the description from their site:
Ta-da makes it easy to...
* Keep track of all the little things you need to get done
* Make lists for other people (co-workers, friends, family)
* Share lists with the world ("My favorite movies of 2004")
* Subscribe to your lists in RSS so you're always on track
Screenshot of Ta-Da List
So now that we've covered what the items above are, and what you can do with them, let me share with you a handy way to use them together, and at the same time make sure you keep things "in sight and in mind".
First, I set my home page in the Firefox browser to open up multiple sites when the browser opens (or when I choose the "home" icon.
To do this go to: Tools ---> Options --> Then make sure the
"general" tab/button is chosen. Then you will see: Home Page and Location(s). This is where you enter the web address that you want to set to be your home page (or starting page).
What you may not realize is you can actually include more then one web site in that space. Here's an example of how to do that:
Example looks like this:
http://www.rememberthemilk.com | http://www.tadalist.com
In the example above, notice we used the "|" symbol (without the "" of course) to choose more then one site. Then choose the "Ok" button and you're all set!
See how simple that was? Now since I'm on my computer and particularly on the internet a lot of the time anyway, I no longer have to worry about remembering to look over the goals and action tasks I have set for myself.
Sometimes it's the simplest of ideas that makes all the difference with regards to reaching the goals you set for yourself. Give this idea a try and here's wishing you all the best in your goal-setting journey.
To your success, Josh Hinds
© 2005
posted by Josh Hinds at 10/20/2005
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