11 ideas that I have learned about why goals matter, how to set them, and how to avoid the most common goal-setting pitfalls.

The truth is that balancing everything I want in my life (to be a great employee, a great parent, a great partner, a healthy person) is a daily struggle for me.

But I have also learned some things from experience and from the wisdom of others. Here are my thoughts, and I’d love to hear in the comments how else you find ways to align your priorities and make it all fit together.

After we had several months of success with The Daily Five, we realized it would be helpful to get more organized about the other things that need to get done regularly in our house, but that did not need to happen every day. Enter The Weekly List. This is where we added tasks that need to get done each week, assigning them to a particular day of the week.

Last August, I had just gone back to work after maternity leave with my second child. I was exhausted. My work was busy, we had a 2-year-old and a newborn (who, as expected, was not yet sleeping through the night). We were just a year into our new home and had projects going. You know the drill - you're reading this because you are super busy too. 

My husband and I were sitting together after our kids were asleep at the end of our rope - we had to improve how things were working in our household to help things be more sustainable.

The idea we came up with that night has stuck with us for more than a year and has made a huge difference: The Daily Five.

Management is a practice. It requires intention to do well. Some people are more naturally talented at coaching and supporting others, but none of us is going to be a truly excellent manager by winging it. Putting in systems is an important start.

Here's how we've reduced the overwhelming number of toys while helping our kids practice being generous with those in need.

In the midst of the busy lives we lead, taking time to clean things up, freshen systems, and invest in future ease can be challenging. Every professional should make time to take a week (or even just a few days) every year to “polish” their systems, which will pay major dividends in your productivity for the rest of the year. 

At my organization, we pride ourselves on doing what we say we are going to do. A big part of living up to that value is to be great at setting an ambitious vision for impact and then doing the day-to-day work to realize that vision. Below are practices I have seen our best project managers bring to their work on a consistent basis.