SMART goals as projects

A goal like “get fitter” cannot be done on a Tuesday. A SMART goal can: “run 5 km without stopping by 31 March, three runs a week”. Specific says what, measurable says how you will know, achievable keeps it honest, relevant ties it to something you care about, and time-bound gives it an end.

Why it works

The method forces the vague wish into shapes a task list can hold: a date, a count, a repeating action. Once it is in that shape, progress is visible and the next step is never in doubt.

Set it up in OpenTodo

1. One project per goal, named as the outcome with its date: “Run 5 km by 31 March”. Organise with projects
2. The measures as milestones, dated tasks with the number in the title: “3 km without stopping (15 Feb)”. Give them subtasks for the steps, and the parent shows how far you are, like 2/4. Break a task into subtasks
3. The repeating action as a recurring task: “Run” every Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, with a reminder the evening before. Make a task repeat
4. A view for all goals: search: "by " & !completed grouped by project, or simpler, a parent project “Goals” and the view ##Goals, pinned to the sidebar. Save your own views
5. A monthly check-in task that repeats every 1st: is the goal still relevant, is the pace achievable? Adjust the date rather than quietly abandon it. Rules you can write

For a team

• Share the goal project with the people who contribute, assign the measures, and let the Activity feed show movement without a status meeting. Share a project
• Comments on a milestone keep the “why we moved the date” where the next person will find it. Comment on a task

Make it stick

• The new job template is three SMART goals in a row: learn, contribute, lead, each with dated subtasks. Tasks and projects
• When a goal is reached, archive its project rather than deleting it; the record of how it went is worth keeping. Archived projects