Create a goal and keep it moving

Creating the goal is three short steps. Keeping it alive is one setting and one habit.

Create it

1. Open Goals and press New goal.
2. Step one — choose the type, then give it a name. Anything else on this step is optional.
3. Step two — for a number-based goal, set the metric, starting value, target and direction. Other types skip straight past this.
4. Step three — set the time frame. The presets run from Daily through Yearly, and on to Short-term, Mid-term and Dream Goal for the long ones. Pick Custom Dates if none fit.
5. Press Create Goal.

Connect the work

A goal with nothing linked to it is a wish. Tasks carry a Goal field — set it when you create the task, or open an existing task and use Link Goal.

For a time-based goal, a linked task also carries how much it contributes, so an hour of the right work counts once and not twice.

Put it where you will see it

The single most useful setting is Make this a focus goal. It pins the goal to the top of My Day, so it is in front of you every morning rather than on a page you have to remember to visit.

Be sparing. Three focus goals is a focus; nine is a list.

Goals inside goals

A goal can sit under a parent goal, which is how a big ambition breaks into quarters or workstreams without losing the connection between them. Set the parent when you create it, or leave it standalone.