I tried Google Calendar Goals for One Month and Here's What Happened
Manging your goal is mobile-only right now.
As a Type-A procrastinator, I constantly battle between my need for achievement and the attractiveness of putting something off for later. To make sure I keep my commitments, I obsess over tasks lists and my calendar, getting a sick sense of satisfaction when I check something off or plan exactly what's happening six months from now. So when Goals in Google Calendar was announced, I jumped on it and set up three goals:
- Read every day for 30 minutes
- Build a skill three times a week for 1 hour
- Workout every day for 1 hour
"Every day" was translated into 6 sessions a week. Google graciously allows a day off even for your most ambitious goal. I also decided not to pick a specific skill, but simply wanted to learn something and it didn't matter what as long as it was new. In typical Google form, machine learning algorithms learn my habits and adjust times for these goal appointments.
On April 18th, I made Google my life-coach.
Read Every Day
At the beginning of the year, I set a goal on Goodreads to finish ten books in 2016, doubling my 2015 reading list. As of April, I read six books and Google helped me finish book numbers seven and eight. If I keep this new pace, reading 20 books this year is well within reach.
Reading is so often on the 'habits of highly successful people' lists, so I'm feeling good about my progress and hopefully my chances of being wildly successful (debatable).
Build a Skill Three Times a Week
This one was actually fun and I ended up learning quite a bit. Here's a sample:
- Dusted off my statistics skills - revisited skew, kurtosis, standard deviation, variance, parteo charts, and histograms
- Create a fillable shape in InDesign using the pen tool
- Writing with Flair; a Udemy course taught by Shani Raja, a former editor at The Wall Street Journal
- How to soothe a crying baby, or lots of ways not to
- Through a little journaling, a clear picture of my personal values; compassion, integrity and ownership
- Green bell peppers are just red bell peppers picked before they are ripe
- Linguistic hedging and how to combat it
Out of the three goals this one was the most difficult to consistently complete; likely because it was not very concrete and required many steps. However, the last four weeks gave me a new frame for learning. I found value not only in acquiring a new skill, but also recognizing new experiences, knowledge and introspective insights. This type of mindfulness served me well and I will work to continue my habit of taking a few moments each week to write down what I've learned.
Workout Every Day
I was already well on my way toward an increase in exercise. Since February, ClassPass was helping me avoid workout boredom, but consistent physical activity was a new behavior change that I needed to maintain. January to February, I logged 1-4 days of exercise per week. In April and May, I never had a week with under 4 days of workouts, but 5 and 6 days a week was more common. If I'm being honest, the intensity varied; I didn't always hit one hour and I still have yet to log a week with 7 days of workouts, but I feel fantastic. There is always room for improvement!
Functionality Limitations
While Google Goals is a great feature add, it is not perfect. I found two main pitfalls that are not enough for me to stop using (yet), but it definitely makes things more complicated.
First, the goal appointments do not recognize multiple calendars. While on my personal calendar I have free time from 8-9am, my work calendar is booked. I was frequently training their algorithms, moving times around so Google would learn my preferences, but it would be better if it recognized the conflict from the get go.
Deferring a goal appointment also needs some work. For example, if I have a conflict come up for my noon work out and I defer, that appointment disappears from my calendar. Then if I decide to workout at 4pm, I found no way to bring that goal appointment back and mark it as a complete session for the day. I lose out on the satisfaction of a checkmark and Google loses a data point about my habits.
In the last two weeks, things got buggy. Marking goals complete would log them as checked off, but after a few seconds would reverse. This was maddening. I tried every way to mark items complete, testing different click paths for any variation, and now I constantly check the app store for an update fix that has yet to arrive.
Amp Up Goal Accountability
If you follow the SMART framework, a good goal is one that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. But even the most well constructed goal will see no progress without a plan for accountability. This is the primary advantage of Google Calendar Goals. The calendar is a tool I already use every day to hold myself accountable to appointments with other people, and now it algorithmically helps me keep appointments with myself.
Could you do this manually without Google's help? Of course, but consider letting technology do its job and save your energy for steps to achieve your goal, not manage it.