When I first encountered S.M.A.R.T. goals, I was working at an environmental consulting agency. I thought they were dreamed up by HR as a performance management tool, to make us prove that we had indeed been making changes and achieving goals and therefore deserved a pay increase. But it turns out they are much more useful than that, especially when setting up daily tasks in a lengthy project such as a PhD.
S.M.A.R.T. goals or criteria are:
| Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound | Instead of "Read relevant papers", try "Read Beardmore et al. (2012)" How will you know when it's completed? For the example above, when you've reached the last page of the paper Make sure it's actually do-able i.e. "Read one taphonomy paper" instead of "Find and memorise every word of every paper written about taphonomy" Do you actually need to do this? How will it help you reach your end goal? Put a time-frame on it "Read paper before the end of the day" |
So, using the example above, a S.M.A.R.T. goal would be, "Read Beardmore et al. (2012) (S) start to finish (M, A) because it pertains to my taphonomy of reptiles research (R) before the end of today (T)".
I've put these S.M.A.R.T. goals into practice with another tool: a little black and pink notebook that lives on my desk. I opted for a physical notebook as it's nice to look away from the computer screen once in a while, and items cannot be easily edited or deleted. And unlike time/goal-management software, I don't forget to open it or clutter my desktop with it. The goal of this book is to keep me on task by recording the following:
1. What did I achieve today?
2. What three goals will I focus on tomorrow?
3. What can be improved?
Item 1 includes the three goals from the previous day, and anything else I achieved. As for Item 2, I make sure these three goals to focus on are S.M.A.R.T., as an open-ended task like "keep editing crocodile photos" seems gargantuan and unachievable, whereas "edit Day 4 and 5 photos for CR3A by the end of the day" is much more realistic. Item 3 is also useful, as it forces you to examine your work day and realise that there is always something that can be improved!
But remember, this doesn't mean that your work day has necessarily ended when you've achieved your three tasks. It should fill you with a sense of achievement, which in turn will inspire you to keep working hard and remember why you're here in the first place: you're passionate about your research!
I've put these S.M.A.R.T. goals into practice with another tool: a little black and pink notebook that lives on my desk. I opted for a physical notebook as it's nice to look away from the computer screen once in a while, and items cannot be easily edited or deleted. And unlike time/goal-management software, I don't forget to open it or clutter my desktop with it. The goal of this book is to keep me on task by recording the following:
1. What did I achieve today?
2. What three goals will I focus on tomorrow?
3. What can be improved?
Item 1 includes the three goals from the previous day, and anything else I achieved. As for Item 2, I make sure these three goals to focus on are S.M.A.R.T., as an open-ended task like "keep editing crocodile photos" seems gargantuan and unachievable, whereas "edit Day 4 and 5 photos for CR3A by the end of the day" is much more realistic. Item 3 is also useful, as it forces you to examine your work day and realise that there is always something that can be improved!
But remember, this doesn't mean that your work day has necessarily ended when you've achieved your three tasks. It should fill you with a sense of achievement, which in turn will inspire you to keep working hard and remember why you're here in the first place: you're passionate about your research!
