Small Business Idea

We’ve all been there: you start on a Monday morning, filled with passion, clarity, and a prioritized list of things to do that will make this week superbly profitable.

Then you check your inbox. Then Tuesday afternoon gets interrupted by the plumber. Then you have a completely unrelated bright idea on Wednesday. Then you’re tired/unintelligent on Thursday. By Friday you’re spent, have logged 50 working hours, have gotten a lot done, but have totally missed the priorities identified on Monday. And sadly, the chances are, you did not end up having a very profitable week.

Alas, the trap of relapsing out of our profit-focused priorities back into that profitless addiction called “misc.”…

A Weekly Goals & Accomplishments List

Having faced this issue numerous times in the past, I have started to write weekly priorities down. This simple activity serves as a personal guide for those times in the week where I lack good decision-making ability and lack clear perspective about what my priorities should be. In the absence of an external manager (drill sergeant), an entrepreneur must become their own manager. A heartless, time-watching, production-driven manager.

And we need tools to pull that off consistently.

A Simple Tool You Can Use

Spending 5 minutes a week writing down your top priorities and budgeting time for each task can really upgrade personal effectiveness. It is super easy to do, allows you to maintain a sustained effort on specific goals over many days, and allows you to evaluate how effectively you have worked when a week has passed. And all it takes is a pencil, a printer, and somewhere to post this list where you’ll see it throughout the week.

Luckily, its also as strict or laissez faire as you want it to be.

Why Do You Need a Printer?

To print this free, easy pdf: Weekly Goals & Accomplishments Worksheet

Feel free to use this form (high-resolution printable version here) and share it with others.

Tips for Use

Getting Started: Print off several copies, fill in the “Week” dates in advance, and commit to trying this for at least a month. It may take 2-3 weeks before this system starts to click for you.

Goals: Under “Details”, write the goal in a few words. Be as specific or general as seems to work best. Aim to have anywhere from 5 to 20 goals. Sample entries might be, “brainstorm one new business idea”, “read chapters 5-14 of ____ book”, “investigate tax options”, “adequately do my 15-hour part-time job”, “design these 2 elements of my new website: ______, _____”, “write 3 new pages of marketing material”, etc.

Priority: Some jobs are more critical than others. After filling in your jobs, rate the most important tasks “1″ and the least important “3″.

# of Hours Budgeted: Estimate how long it will take to complete each task. Round off to the nearest hour.

# of Hours Actually Taken: When finishing a task, estimate how long it took to complete. Compare this number to your estimate and see what you can learn from this. Don’t worry if the two “hours” numbers don’t always line up; just be sure that you consistently get better at optimizing your work time.

Total Hours Budgeted and Taken: At the end of the week, add up your hours and evaluate how things went. Don’t be too hard on yourself - just become aware of how you actually spend your time and figure out how to make the next week better.

Want to phase into a shorter work week? Use this tool to start shaving wasted hours, leaving more time for fun and relaxation!

Reward for Completion of Tasks: This is BY FAR the most important part of this sheet. Positive motivation works a million times better than penalties, guilt, or negative consequences. Choose something fun to do, buy, taste, or enjoy if you meet your weekly targets EACH WEEK, and then enjoy the rewards you’ve earned! Samples might be, “guilt free night out”, “large chocolate milkshake”, “new sunglasses”, “fanciest coffee at the coffee shop”, “trip to the beach”, etc.