Milestones

One of the key components of any good goal is the identification of milestones, as distinct from deadlines.

Deadlines are important - they provide motivation, clarity and accountability - as the saying goes, "If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done." But it's not always about your to-do list. It's about your have-done list as well.

Normally I'm quite terrible at following this advice, but recently I had my PhD graduation, and it was fantastic! I got the floppy hat. If it weren't for the ceremony and celebration, it's quite likely I'd be ploughing onward, without pause to acknowledge this achievement. But I'm taking some time to appreciate this.

I haven't got empirical evidence for this, but I truly believe that if you focus on your to-do list all the time, you're flirting with stress and burn-out. This is not cool when studying.

Balance your deadline-focus with milestone-acknowledgement. Celebrate all achievements that move you further on in your quest.

WARNING: MAJOR GEEK ALERT

(As a side note, one of the cool things I remember from my brief addiction with World of Warcraft is the expression of "DING!" which essentially means, in g33k sp33k, "I've just levelled up!" - how cool would it be to acknowledge all the achievements, big and small, that you have in everyday life? Hmm, maybe it wouldn't officially be cool, but what's uncool is cool sometimes. Give it a try!)