Milestones

Let's do an experiment. I assume you have been working on a project (academic or professional) for some time now. Today, setup some realistic goal as to what you want to achieve at the end of this week. And in the morning, every day of this week, setup a sub-goal as to what you wish to finish at the end of that day. At the end of the week, evaluate whether you were more productive than the weeks before this. Repeat this exercise for another week and check if you were more productive.

To me, I find myself more productive when I do this. Moreover, I find that things just keep sliding when I do not do this. It just goes on and on, with no concrete outcome.

For one, setting milestones help you pace yourself through the day. Without it, its just work-in-work-out, a chore. With a target at the end of the day, your whole approach is different. You are focused on results, and achieving them is so satisfying.

Secondly, setting milestones helps you focus on the prioritisation and planning activity, which is particularly overlooked early in your career. Nothing fancy, just a small enough time frame to experiment and improve week over week.

It has so often happened to me, that I go: "Hmm, if I hadn't given it this thought, I would have continued pushing down a path that would waste so much time"

So, try it out, and let me know how it goes...