After decades of failed productivity systems, I finally discovered the missing ingredient: visibility. Here's how mounting my goal tracking on a cupboard door transformed me from someone who abandoned goals to someone who actually gets things done.
Here's the thing about productivity and achieving goals: it all sounds so grown up and serious. Think about the words we use: deadlines, tracking, accountability measures, performance metrics, KPIs, deliverables, milestones, benchmarks, routine implementation, intrinsic motivation, skill acquisition… I could go on.
Now, I'm not saying that goals shouldn't be taken seriously – they absolutely must if you want to achieve them – but I don't believe that the language surrounding them needs to be quite so intimidating.
I think I need to backtrack a bit.
If you've read the FAQs, you may remember that I explained that TCC is the result of decades of failure. I tried many goal-setting and productivity methods, and none of them ever stuck long-term. A few of them did work medium-term, but they would always fizzle out eventually.
This year I decided that if other systems didn't suit my particular brand of weirdness, then I needed to create one that did.
Tracking sheets and stickers weren't my first, second, or even third choice. I tried tracking using:
Excel spreadsheets – This was not inspiring because I associate spreadsheets with work.
Trello – Somewhat better in that my boards didn't depress me, but because I couldn't see them without actively opening them in a browser, they tended to get forgotten.
Apps like Habitica – I liked these a bit better, but I had the same problem as I did with Trello: often I'd forget about them, so there was no consistency.
Eventually I did get the idea of printing tracking sheets and putting stickers on them. This turned out to be the thing that worked for me, but even this required experimentation.
Desk pile method: At first I kept my printed sheets in a pile on my office desk. This was better, because I didn't have to remember to open an app to see them, but they got in my way, and tended to get a bit crumpled.
Lever arch file folder: Putting them in a lever arch file folder didn't work because it was large, got in my way and annoyed me. Also, I had to actively look through the folder to find the one I wanted.
Clear plastic wallet: Putting them in a clear plastic wallet took up less room, but I still had to search through them. This wasn't a big deal in that I had about five sheets and it took seconds, but the act of having to search made it feel like a bit of a chore.
The thing that finally worked for me came about because of a holiday.
I wasn't very sensible about taking annual leave in the first half of this year. I usually take time off every three months, but in February I had a bad case of Covid that made me miss work for a week and a half. I didn't feel comfortable taking a break in early April as I normally would, as I'd already been away for so long. This was a mistake, and by the time I did book some leave, I was pretty much burned out. Mr Cranky and I decided a foreign holiday in the sun was just what we needed, so we booked a week in Australia.
Given that I was feeling really tired and desperate for a break, I was worried that I might end up wasting the six weeks between booking the holiday and actually going. I could easily see myself doing nothing except googling every tourist attraction website for the Sunshine Coast. I mean, I did do a lot of googling and ended up with a wish list of about 50 places to visit (I wanna see koalas! And kangaroos! And crocodiles! And more koalas!), but that wasn't the only thing I did.
As well as finding a tracking system that worked for me this year, I decided to set myself four fairly major goals:
To make those six long weeks count for something, I came up with the idea of an 'Aussie Sprint'. I decided to set myself a challenge to complete a certain amount of all four goals before I went away. I created a separate tracking sheet and stuck it on my office cupboard door.
The difference was immediate and amazing! I work from home, and whenever I was at either my work computer or home computer, the tracking sheet was always visible from the corner of my eye. I must have looked at it a hundred times a day – my goals were never far from my thoughts now, which meant that I started working on them more consistently.
And then I started loading my tracking sheet up with stickers. And I discovered that I loved seeing those little sticky, shiny, silly things that made me smile, and I wanted to add even more.
Long story short: this was exactly what I needed to make ROAR part of my everyday life. There are still tracking sheets on my cupboard door. In fact, you can hardly see the door 'cos it's covered with tracking sheets!
At the start of the Aussie Sprint I had decided that I wanted to work on each of my four Big Goals, but once I'd started I realised that I could do something a bit more amazing than making a small amount of progress. In those six weeks, I finished reading Ulysses and completed my Farsi course.
And that's when I realised something that really surprised me at the time: I was finally Someone Who Got Things Done.
Looking back, I can see exactly why this worked when everything else failed:
Digital systems required action: I had to remember to open an app or browser tab. Out of sight really was out of mind.
Hidden physical systems created friction: Even a few seconds of searching through a folder added just enough resistance to make tracking feel like a chore rather than a celebration.
Wall-mounted tracking removed all barriers: My goals were simply there, constantly visible, gently reminding me without nagging, celebrating my progress without me having to seek it out.
The wall-mounted approach gave me something I'd never had before: constant gentle motivation that worked with my psychology instead of against it. Every glance at those tracking sheets reinforced my identity as someone who follows through. Every sticker added became a tiny celebration that made me want to earn another one.
If you've struggled with goal tracking systems that depend on you remembering to check them, consider the power of visibility. It doesn't have to be a cupboard door – it could be a wall, a fridge, a mirror, anywhere you'll see it multiple times a day without effort.
The best tracking system isn't the most sophisticated or the most beautiful. It's the one you'll actually see, every single day, without having to try.
Until next time,
Carpe skateboard! 🛹🦖
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