It's taken me a few weeks to get this all down on paper, so bear with me. Many of you have already taken time to set 2025 Goals, but I know many of you haven't done it yet. It's funny, some people are very goal-oriented, and others aren't, it's just in our nature. I started the habit of setting goals about 15 years ago and I have been using these same strategies for almost that whole time. Here are the secrets to my goal setting and time management. Use the template links to customize them for yourself.
Here is the template link to the 2025 Life Goals Setting Worksheet. You will be able to type into this template with your free Canva account.
Some examples of what I have in each section:
House Projects: Have plans drawn and get quotes for that dreamy addition. Install new ceiling fan in bedroom and recover chairs in living room.
Self-Care: Find a pickleball league to start playing with once a week.
Relationships: Identify a couple of neighbors you want to get to know better. Commit to having them over for dinner once or twice this season. Schedule date nights for you and your spouse once a month.
Spiritual: Attend church weekly. Get involved on a team. Start up a new small group that meets once or twice a month.
Financial: Use financial tracker on your phone to find areas to save money. Commit to canceling un-used subscriptions. Set aside retirement money. Pay off car loans.
Intellectual: List a few books you'd like to read this year. Commit to a class (in-person or online to start a new hobby).
Travel: Name a few places you want your family to travel to this year. Commit to a couple short trips and a couple of long ones. Book them way in advance to gain the most enjoyment from planning and anticipating them.
Ok, now that you have the life goals for the year set, let's look at the weekly schedule. Here is the template link to the weekly schedule. You will be able to type into this template with your free Canva account. The three goals of this schedule are:
1) Block out times for you to get the bulk of your "deep work" done. That is a long chunk of time that allows you to be in "the flow" of your tasks at hand. Plan for 2-3 hour chunks every other day and make sure this task is something that you really get the most benefit from doing. In my work, this would be my painting time. The thing that only I can do for my business. This boots productivity and helps reach your goals the quickest.
2) Schedule in items from the Life Goals sheet. This might look like a weekly time blocked out for pickleball, reading, small group, or a new hobby.
3) Write down 3 goals for each day. For me, that might be an art inventory list that is due to a gallery, an application for a big show that is due that week, or a commission that is due. Something that has a time limit. Maybe 1 of those daily goals does NOT have a time limit, but it's something you want to get done as a part of a larger goal. For me this might be a painting for a new Christmas ornament that isn't due until the fall (and I might schedule it for March when I have some downtime between commissions).
So I use this paper sheet and I print it out each week, held by a clipboard. But you can't feasibly keep a clipboard around all the time, so I use it in conjunction with my iPhone calendar (just the normal one provided by Apple). Ideally the two mirror each other, but that rarely happens. I use the phone to "pencil in" dinners with friends, date nights, Thalian Hall performances, etc. months in advance. When I do have a date set, I use the "location" line below to add the name of the babysitter who is committed to watching the kids. A great hack! You can use the "location" line to really put in anything you want.
In the Notes section of my phone, I have a list of long-range travel plans that I make. Some of those far-fetched locations and big plane ticket items are 10 years down the line. I try and set up a few years of travel goals because I want to take my kids to see ALLL the places I've been and more.
Okay, so there you have it! Happy goal setting and happy scheduling. Cheers to the best year yet!
XOXO, Elizabeth
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