Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#51

Post by awb » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:13 PM UTC

pixelmonkey wrote: post #45

Loop Habit Tracker for Android is the only thing that has ever worked for me for tracking goals -- and sticking to them. https://github.com/iSoron/uhabits Simple interface where you set your "habits" and how frequently per week you expect to do them. (E.g. exercise 4x per week, eat healthy 6x per week). Then you simply check off each day whether it happened. The analytics makes it clear if you are doing the right thi…

This app changed my life. It's the only one that's actually worked.

Knowing quantitatively that I'm improving in a certain area is a huge motivator (as is knowing that I've stalled).

In the past, when I forget to exercise for a few days I would get down and think that exercising was to changing, time consuming, etc.

Now, I can see that those periods of inactivity are just small dips in an overall positive trend of exercising more.

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#52

Post by xtiansimon » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:17 PM UTC

I'm assuming by 'personal goals' you are referring to the category of goals for life-long-learning, and not "vacation at the cabin this July".

If that's the case, then for me this is the wrong question. To suggest I should try to organize my goals is similar to asking me to graph the neurons in my brain, or catalog my dreams. My objective is to "capture/track my ideas" and aspirations. I work to develop my practical skills for, writing, coding, drawing, reading, recall/findability.

Many ideas prove low-value, or impossible to realize. I simply work to find a way to effectively express my personal ideas in the highest fidelity. If I imposed organization on this mess, I would sub-consciously limit my expressions.

That said, if an idea proves to have merrit, then I devote my time towards definable projects. I hope to complete them in a timely fashion.

I'm not part of a leasure class. I have enough pressure at work, so I don't sweat it. That's my choice.

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#53

Post by pixelmonkey » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:21 PM UTC

awb wrote: post #51

pixelmonkey wrote: post #45

Loop Habit Tracker for Android is the only thing that has ever worked for me for tracking goals -- and sticking to them. https://github.com/iSoron/uhabits Simple interface where you set your "habits" and how frequently per week you expect to do them. (E.g. exercise 4x per week, eat healthy 6x per week). Then you simply check off each day whether it happened. The analytics makes it clear if you are doing the right thi…

This app changed my life. It's the only one that's actually worked. Knowing quantitatively that I'm improving in a certain area is a huge motivator (as is knowing that I've stalled). In the past, when I forget to exercise for a few days I would get down and think that exercising was to changing, time consuming, etc. Now, I can see that those periods of inactivity are just small dips in an overall positive trend of ex…

So people don't think we are raving lunatics, here is the screenshot of the analytics from the app:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlOsJsDFgCd/

So, in this case, over the course of 5 weeks I built up a habit strength of 4x weekly exercise by watching this graph move up and trying to keep my streak. Basically, the app puts hard data behind your daily commitments and helps you see -- quickly -- when you are failing. And ack'ing the success/failure of a commitment is just a single checkbox on a single screen, and it can remind you (with notifications) daily.

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#54

Post by beachsam0rai » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:22 PM UTC

pixelmonkey wrote: post #45

Loop Habit Tracker for Android is the only thing that has ever worked for me for tracking goals -- and sticking to them. https://github.com/iSoron/uhabits Simple interface where you set your "habits" and how frequently per week you expect to do them. (E.g. exercise 4x per week, eat healthy 6x per week). Then you simply check off each day whether it happened. The analytics makes it clear if you are doing the right thi…

is there any ios alternatives? I found an app called Loop - Habbit Tracker (by Qinzen Xu) on appstore but I think that's not the one that on github.

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#55

Post by icebraining » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

swah wrote: post #5

bibac wrote: post #4

I don't. Live is hard enough without you constantly pushing yourself and giving yourself a bad conscious for not reaching your goals. Relax, kick back and just do what you feel is fun.

Most people already do that.

If they did, mid-life crisis wouldn't be so common. I'd say many people have lofty yet rather undefined goals in life, which is why they crash hard when they realize they are far from achieving hem.

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#56

Post by pixelmonkey » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

beachsam0rai wrote: post #54

pixelmonkey wrote: post #45

Loop Habit Tracker for Android is the only thing that has ever worked for me for tracking goals -- and sticking to them. https://github.com/iSoron/uhabits Simple interface where you set your "habits" and how frequently per week you expect to do them. (E.g. exercise 4x per week, eat healthy 6x per week). Then you simply check off each day whether it happened. The analytics makes it clear if you are doing the right thi…

is there any ios alternatives? I found an app called Loop - Habbit Tracker (by Qinzen Xu) on appstore but I think that's not the one that on github.

A friend of mine, upon seeing my setup, said the recently launched product Habitify was similar (iOS & MacOS), but I haven't tried it:

https://www.producthunt.com/posts/habitify-for-macos

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#57

Post by Timothee » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:30 PM UTC

vinceguidry wrote: post #30

I've tried and failed to use and stick to many productivity systems over the years. It almost seems like an obsession at this point to find technological means for improving throughput. I was able to take certain ideas from GTD but I've never found myself able to stick to a particular system. They all introduce too much friction and I end up discarding them in favor of just using mind, memory, and physical reminders.…

You might be interested in TaskWarrior https://taskwarrior.org/

Or maybe not :) I originally found the terminal-based aspect appealing but in the end found the tool didn’t work for me. And maybe you just want to work on your own tool, which would be a fair reason not to stop.

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#58

Post by grosjona » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:32 PM UTC

I only have a single personal goal in life and it changes slightly over time as I learn more about life so it wouldn't make sense for me to write it down. I just think about it and work towards it every minute of every day so I don't need to track/organise anything. It's more like a principle than a goal.

The idea that someone would have a rigid list of goals and work through it like some kind of checklist sounds very self-indulgent.

I could make it my personal goal to eat a fruit for breakfast everyday for 1 month; that type of goal would be achievable enough for me to put into a list; but the idea that I would get any satisfaction out of this is cringeworthy.

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#59

Post by beachsam0rai » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:36 PM UTC

pixelmonkey wrote: post #56

beachsam0rai wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is there any ios alternatives? I found an app called Loop - Habbit Tracker (by Qinzen Xu) on appstore but I think that's not the one that on github.

A friend of mine, upon seeing my setup, said the recently launched product Habitify was similar (iOS & MacOS), but I haven't tried it: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/habitify-for-macos

hey thanks, I will definitely check it out!

Re: Ask HN: How do you organize/track your personal goals?

#60

Post by rohitb91 » Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 4:36 PM UTC

thesimon wrote: post #42

Semi-Related: How do you come up with long-term-goals? Owning a car in the Bay is worthless, real estate is too expensive. Traveling the world is nice, but it might get boring after some years. I kinda like my work and my life, but I feel like I should have a big future goal.

Get married? Have kids? Reach a higher position? Join your dream company? Climb Everest? Do 10 pullups? Learn french? Help kids in Africa? Donate a million dollars? Tip someone a hundred that needs it? Donate 100 books to a library? Fly an aircraft over the Atlantic? Write a book? Get famous on social media?

Whatever you want