I missed the mark this week. I set a bunch goals to accomplish this week, and I only completed a couple of them.
You’ve probably had weeks like this. Or days like this. Or Months. We all have. Here’s what to do the next time you find yourself in this situation.
The first thing to do is give yourself grace. Don’t beat yourself up. Examine the situation to see what went wrong differently than what you planned.
In my case, it was being over aggressive with my purpose-driven goals. I knew I had a busy week at my 9-5 job and my schedule was going to be wacky. But I still set high goals for my off hours.
That’s my bad—I should have known better—but not something to beat myself up about. In fact, despite feeling under the weather and having a crazy work week, I met or exceeded all my professional and personal goals. That should be celebrated.
Now that you’re being kinder to yourself, it’s time to investigate what went wrong. In Episode 7 of The Wholistic Productivity Podcast, I talk about the importance of tracking our Detours.
Detours are anything that takes us off course. It could be distractions, last-minute priority shifts, poor planning, or even “important” meetings.
Identifying and tracking our Detours helps us look for patterns in the things that keep us from achieving our goals. That way we can address the most common factors in our lack of productivity.
In my case this week, it was a combination of reasons for my Detour. I didn’t take into consideration my need for additional rest because of my different schedule at work, and I tried to accomplish too much. I simply put too many projects and tasks on the to-do list.
(Apparently, I need to re-read the blog I just wrote last week on setting realistic goals)! 🤦🏼♂️ #keepingitreal
One last point to make. I haven’t called this a mistake. That’s not because I can’t admit I make those. I didn’t miss any critical deadlines this week or miss any client appointments.
The tasks that didn’t’ get accomplished this week were for future projects. I’ve built margin into my schedule to allow for this very thing. If I wasn’t working with margin, it would have been a lot worse.
What’s important here is to view these situations as learning opportunities. I’ve identified the underlying reasons for not achieving my goals this week. By acknowledging this, I can improve my performance in the future.
Here’s the truth. Life is a series of learning opportunities and there is far more we can learn from our mistakes and failures then there is from our success. Don’t be afraid to face your shortcomings and turn them into strengths.