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1. People who get stuff done.
2. People who don’t.
3. People who believe that shit.
The ability to get things done – what we call productivity – isn’t all-or-nothing. Like many things, productivity exists on a spectrum.
Some days there’s a line-up of can’t-miss football games or a Law and Order: SVU marathon, and you spend 12 hours curled up under a blanket on your couch.
Other days you’re like a machine. You go to the gym, clean your whole house, and wash (AND fold!!!) all your laundry by 2pm.
But more often are the days in between, where you make the most of some time and waste the rest.
Pin me to come back to this post later!

In college, I could not be TOUCHED, okay? I was a master balancer and organizer. Grades were tight. Extracurriculars were on point. And I had plenty of time to play.
And then, there was 2016-2017 right after I had my son when I felt like I was doing 50 things at once and doing none of them very well. (#MomBrain is the realest.)
Can you think of times in your life when you were more productive than others?

But in order to live the multi-passionate life you want, and live it well, your productive days have to outnumber the unproductive ones. Otherwise you become…well…a lazy millennial.
Time is a limited resource, but that doesn’t mean we have no control over it.
We can’t get rid of time, but we can waste it. We can’t create time, but we can maximize it.
So if you have lofty goals that you want to achieve and creative energy that you want to spend and share, you’ll need to figure out how to make the most of the time you have.
The best way to do that is to make sure every single day is as productive as it possibly can be.

In this post, you’re going to learn how to use micro-goal-setting to help you increase your productivity so that you can make time for the things and people you love and reach your long-term goals.
Enjoying this post? You’ll love this video on how to get stuff done when you REALLY don’t feel like it.
What is Micro-Goal-Setting?
Have you ever planned a wedding? High school reunion? Baby shower? These are big events and if you’re the person in charge, you can easily become overwhelmed.
For large-scale projects like these, there’s a process:
– First, figure out what you want the overall outcome to be or look like.
– Then, break the process down into manageable steps that don’t cause you to rip your hair out, have a mental breakdown, or slap somebody. I just planned a wedding – can you tell?
– Lastly, complete all those steps.
This process is the essence of micro-goal-setting.
Micro-goal-setting is a way to take large goals and break them down into tiny micro-goals that you can wrap your head around and realistically accomplish – in other words, working backwards. As you accomplish your micro-goals, you get closer and closer to achieving your ultimate goal!
It’s like putting together a 1000-piece puzzle. You start small, and eventually, bit by bit, the final picture comes into view.

Why is Micro-Goal-Setting Necessary?
Micro-goal-setting has saved my sanity, and I’m confident that it can help you too.
There are tons of benefits to micro-goal-setting. Here are a few:
1. Keeps you grounded in the present.
Daydreaming about the future is inevitable and can be inspiring, too. But in excess, it’s a productivity-killer. The easiest way to waste your own time is to fall into the trap of thinking too much about the future without taking action in the present.
Setting micro-goals helps you focus on what you should be doing now to get you to later.
2. Prevents you from feeling overwhelmed.
There’s a saying that if your dream doesn’t scare you, you aren’t dreaming big enough. I can get with that.
On the other hand, if your dream scares you, that means you have fear. Although fear is normal, it can be overwhelming. The fear of embarrassment. The fear of failure. The fear of SUCCESS…

3. Gives you a sense of accomplishment.
Honestly one of the best parts of a to-do list is crossing stuff off of it!
Why? Idk, I’m not a psychologist, but I do know it feels great! Even if I forget to write something on my to do list, I’ll write it down just so I can mark a line through it.
A confidence boost never hurt anyone, and that’s exactly what you get each time you achieve one of your micro-goals.
4. Makes you feel capable.
This goes back to the fear that comes along with having a lofty mega-goal. You may feel like you can’t possibly achieve what you want to achieve.
Could you really open your own shop? Can you really grow your side hustle to the point where you make a full-time income? Could you really start an online business?
Yes, you can! And you’ll feel like you can accomplish your mega-goal once you start crushing your micro-goals.

5. Helps you manage multiple goals at once.
LZM is for multi-passionate millennials, which means you probably have multiple mega-goals, not just one.
Maybe you have mega-goals for your career and your personal life.
With micro-goals you can manage multiple larger goals more easily.
6. Helps you prioritize and stay organized.
Micro-goals help you keep track of what needs to be done and when.
Instead of focusing on things that aren’t as urgent or important at the time, you can set up your micro-goals to help you focus on what is most pressing.
I’m Sold! How Do I Become a Micro-Goal-Setting Guru?
Begin with the end in mind.
This happens to also be the first and most important step in setting micro-goals so that you can maximize your productivity. You can’t set meaningful micro-goals if you have no idea what your mega-goal is.
An Example of How Micro-Goal-Setting Works
Say for example this is your mega-goal:
I will earn $1,000 through my own photography business in the first half of 2018.
Well, that’s awesome, but that’s also going to take a lot of work.
To make sure you’re successful and keep you motivated, you might need to set some smaller monthly goals, and then weekly goals, and then daily goals (aka micro-goals).
So what are the smaller monthly goals you could set to help you make 1K from photography?
Perform market research.
Develop a business plan.
Buy equipment.
Create a portfolio.
Network with other photographers.
Book clients.
These smaller goals help make sure you know what is required to accomplish your goal, but these steps are still high-level.
Your micro-goals will help you figure out what you need to do on a weekly & daily basis in order to make all of this happen.
This is where your timeline comes into play. You need to work backwards to figure out how you should divide these tasks in order to achieve your goal in the timeline you set.
This way, you can keep track of the progress you’re making, stay motivated, and prevent yourself from burning out or just saying screw it!

Micro-goal-setting is too much work. Isn’t there an easier way?
At the beginning of this post, I told you that micro-goal-setting saved me several strands of hair, but I didn’t say it was easy. It’s not easy but it’s also not as hard as it may sound.
he never said it would be easy, but you're a winner in the end.
Once I started intentionally setting micro-goal-setting, I was able to make time for my family, my full-time job, my blogs, and my other interests.
Now don’t get me wrong, I could still use another 5 hours in a day and at least another 2 days in the week, but the point is that I have time for my #adulting responsibilities and for my creative interests.
How will you take ownership of your time?
I need a post about how you were so balanced and organized in college because I’m struggling! Lol going to sign up for the challenge to get my life together.
Haha, I just posted a video on my YT channel about how I used organizational skills to get *into* college, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to do one about when I was in college too! Thanks for the idea 🙂 Hope to see you in the challenge!
The biggest thing is discipline. You can set all the goals you want, but if you do not have the discipline to continually execute the tasks associated with it, you will not get very far .
Yes, discipline is critical!
All great points! That book 7 habitats of highly effective people is the business!
Check out the Art of single tasking as well…. learning to do one thing at a time changed my life 🙂
Ooh adding to my personal list now. Thanks Dionne!
This is great. Setting small goals is the best thing to do but you have to focus on your path and not feel overwhelmed looking at someone else’s life and their accomplishments. It can get to you quickly.
It sure can! “Comparison is the thief of joy.” We’re all running our own races. Thanks so much for reading.
Goal setting is definitely important!! Have to get clear and specific to make a useful action plan!
Absolutely! Thanks for reading!
In the life phase I am in right now, I feel very unproductive. I used to be able to clean my house, make dinner, do grocery shopping and laundry all in one day, then sit down at my sewing machine and get creative. Now I am barely able to get food on the table, and have spent many days in my recliner just being a sloth. I had major surgery in 2012 when I turned 60. It has taken me almost 6 years to recuperate, and am just now getting to the point where I might be able to sew again. Take good care of yourself while you are young. You don’t get second chances at health.
Thanks for reading and for the advice Karen. Hopefully now that your recovery is ending, you’ll be able to start doing some of the things you enjoy again!
“Even if I forget to write something on my to do list, I’ll write it down just so I can mark a line through it.”
I do this tooooo! lol. Thought I was the only one. But IT IS very satisfying to cross something off a list. 🙂
Haha, nope! We can be a little extra together 😉 Thanks for reading Melissa!
I’m most productive when I have the freedom to get things done my way, so now that I’ve started my own blog I’ve noticed I’m more productive than I’ve ever been working for other companies.
Yes Micro goal setting is the way to achieve success in your endeavors.
Loved this piece. Micro goal setting and breaking things down helps makes tasks more manageable
I a list maker and I keep a list for everything. If I don’t write it down, it won’t get done. I’m trying to teach this to my 9yr old as well.