I’m a big goals guy. I have targets for what I want to get done or achieve or focus on. I’ve set New Year’s resolutions, tried to start habits, tried Seinfeld tracking. It tends to make me feel guilty or tired or down when things peter out or get derailed or I lose interest. But I got that sickness. I’m hardwired to set these goals and to try to feel like I’m progressing in some thing or another. So I have to do it.
Thankfully, I found a way that works for me lately.
I heard about splitting your life into semesters a few years ago (thanks to Vox’s Allie Volpe), and tried it out for the first time at the beginning of last year.
I’ve loved it. I have some goals that don’t seem crazy big but also don’t feel insubstantial. I can include audacious goals, small goals, habits and obligations all in one framework. It’s easy to check out what I want to do knowing that I’ll be able to drop it in a few months if it’s not working out. Failure is temporary, if it happens, and there’s an end date I can celebrate when things go well (if it happens).
It’s a great balance of commitment and flexibility.
The four-month cadence is just enough to do something big, but not too long so as to make things not have an ending or too short so that I feel like I’m spending more time planning life than living.
So here’s how I do it.
I think of my year as three trimesters: January through April, May through August, and September through December.
Within those trimesters I try to plan things out in three categories: Personal, Family and Career.
I want to make sure I have balance between these, or that the emphasis I’m putting on each is consistent with my values. For instance, in the first trimester of this year I was more focused on personal goals, and I finished a dissertation for my Masters degree. This summer trimester I’m excited to be emphasizing family over the other pillars.
I end up putting my trimester in a spreadsheet, it looks something like this:
I like it as a calendar to start, so I can see where specific things are set for a semester. Some things I’m just not able to move, so planning around those or incorporating those into my goals helps keep things manageable.
The bottom is where I put some overarching goals that can’t really be scheduled out. Things like consistency, or big projects, or things that rely on multiple schedules syncing. In the last trimester I wanted to make sure Lindsay and I got some dates just the two of us, and I wanted to make sure the house got reorganized after a disheveled end of 2024.
The main thing I’m thinking here is, ‘how much time do I have that isn’t already committed?’ And, ‘how do I want to split up that time?’ I really wanted to take another painting class, for instance, but I just didn’t have the time this trimester. Acknowledging that was great. OK, I’ll just pencil it in for next trimester. No need to feel guilty all year about not doing something I want to or trying to stuff it in to an overscheduled time.
I also give myself a two week break at the end of each period. It’s not an actual retreat or days off or anything, just a mental break like I’m excusing myself from achieving anything. It’s OK if I don’t grow every now and then (I have to tell myself). It’s also a time to think about how the last period went and plan the next.
Like I said, sometimes I bail on something mid semester. Sometimes an intention shifts or something big happens that throws things off course. When I’m setting these up in four-month increments I’ve found I can roll with that with a lot less guilt and existential dread. Next semester’s coming.
So if you’re interested, try it out and let me know how it goes. If you’ve added anything to they plan or have another way to do it, I’d love to check it out. Still looking for ways to improve this.