A significant challenge that many triathletes face is juggling all the balls they have in the air.
There are too many things to do, too much to think about and too many commitments to meet as a spouse, partner, parent, manager, employee, friend, athlete,student, volunteer, etc.
There's simply not enough time in the day!
When I think about all the roles I play in my life, it's overwhelming. All the unfinished things sit in the back of my mind.
One of the most useful habits I've recently acquired is to spend 15 minutes each week creating a weekly goals plan.
Why a plan? Because it helps me prioritize what's most important to me. By creating a plan, I proactively identify what those important things are.
Why a week? Because we tend to think in weeks and a monthly plan is too long, while a daily plan is too narrowly focused.
Each Sunday, I sit down and list out important things to accomplish for the week in each of the roles I play: being a boyfriend, a son to my parents, a coach to my clients, a writer, an event director and an entrepreneur.
I then plug the bigger items into my calendar. For example, racing well at Ironman Coeur d'Alene is important, so one of my goals is to complete all the workouts that my coach gives me for the week.
After I create my weekly goals plan, I then add all my workouts for the week into my calendar to block off the time. Sure, the exact workout time may change based on other commitments, but I have the time blocked off so I know what I need to get done that day.
I keep my list of weekly goals visible at my work desk as a daily reminder.
Once I accomplish a goal on my list, I put a check mark next to it. If I end up doing something unexpected, I simply add it to my list.
At the end of the week, I record all of my accomplishments in a notebook, which helps the achiever in me feel good about the important things I did get done rather worry about the things I didn't.
Get yourself on a training program to help meet your weekly goals.