It’s the end of July. August creeps up to us with soft feet, barely making a sound as Summer clings on. Fall starts to ever so slowly make herself known.

This time of year brings out the poet in me.

August brings with it back the back-to-school season. This is often a time used for making plans and goals by people whose lives revolve around a school schedule.

For someone like me, who only knows if school is in or out if the yellow buses are making their rounds, this isn’t a time of year I start doing a lot of planning or goal setting. I set goals at the start of the year, breaking them down and modifying them by quarter.

Then sometimes something happens that makes me throw the whole damn plan out and start over. More on that soon.

There are many schools of thought as to when the best time for goal setting is. And as someone who really, really likes her planners, I love this. I love just about any excuse to sit down at my desk with my calendar and bullet journal, and dream on paper about what I can accomplish in a given period. It’s magical. There is my dream, my goal out in front of me. Now let me lay myself mile markers. Let me prepare so that I can bring this dream to life.

So today, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the most popular times to set goals and make plans. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each. And we’ll end with what I think is the very best time for goal setting.

New Years

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. New Year’s Day, New Year’s Resolutions.

I love this one, personally. Generally, December 26th every year is spent in the pages of my brand new planner, making goals and plans for the year to come.

There’s a lot of social momentum in this. Many of us are surrounded by people who are also making goals for the year. And it’s inspiring to have everyone on this same page, the first blank page in a book of 365.

But there’s a downside to this. First off, most people who set New Year’s Resolutions don’t keep them. So if you’re following that crowd, it might well lead you right back where you were. And you don’t like it there. That’s why you were trying to leave it.

There’s also a lot of pressure at this time of year to make goals. Which isn’t always a good thing. It’s also not a great time of the year for things like seasonal depression. Or, I don’t know, taking up running if you live somewhere where it’s still snowing.

So if you love planning in January like I do, awesome! If not, it’s okay to hit snooze on the whole thing.

Spring

Funny story, the new year used to be thought of as a Spring activity. Which makes a lot of sense to me. The weather’s starting to warm up, lots of cute things are having cute babies. And my seasonal depression has started to melt into Original Flavor depression.

Spring can be a great time for goal setting. Not everyone is doing it, so you don’t feel all of that social pressure. And if your goals include things that require you to go outside of your house, that’s a much more pleasant experience.

Of course, if your goal is to spend more time writing or learning a new skill, Spring might be a fucking awful time for that. After all, what’s more miserable than trying to sit at your computer while the birds are chirping and the iced coffees are calling. So plan your planning accordingly.

The start of a new school year

If you’re a teacher, a student, or have a student living in your house, this is a great time of year to make goals. Your routine just got a lot more structured. Or, at least, the structure changed. You’ve got different responsibilities, and often a lot more of them.

Even if you don’t have anyone schoolbound in your life, the start of a new school year can be a fun time to plan. All the good stationery is out in the stores. And there’s a sense of something starting. Something changing.

Back to school is also really busy. And for some people, this might well be the worst time to start making goals. It’s awfully hard to find some quiet time to make plans when you’re figuring out schedules, making carpool agreements, and being guilted into volunteering for school activities. It might be better to have plans and goals in place before the madness starts, not while you’re already getting used to packing lunches and coordinating football practice again.

Quarterly

There’s an argument to be made that making plans for a whole year at a time is maybe not the best way to handle things. And the older I get, the more this makes sense to me. Things change. Things we don’t see coming just come right on anyway without our consent.

For instance, I didn’t know in January that I was going to be caring for a husband recovering from a stroke and moving my house.

Making plans for three months can be easier. While the unexpected might still knock you on your ass, it won’t mess up your year-long plans. Because you didn’t have any.

Quarterly goals are also smaller than yearly goals. At least they’d better be. And this can feel far more attainable. It’s much less intimidating to break down goals. Consider writing a book.

After all, that’s what we’re originally here to talk about.

Writing a book is a massive, intimidating goal. Most of us can’t write a book in a year. Especially when we have so many other obligations. So it’s easy to look at that massive goal, that massive task, and feel overwhelmed.

Kind of like looking at a house that needs packing and feeling overwhelmed.

But if we break down everything into what can be done in three months, that feels more manageable. I can’t write a book in three months. But I can write a rough draft. Or I can commit to writing every week for a certain amount of time.

Anything is easier if we break it down.

There’s only one real downside to this goal-setting method. You might find yourself forgetting the bigger picture. Seeing the trees and not the forest.

In short, you might start to think small.

Thinking small for a while is great. Especially if it helps you get started. But we shouldn’t be thinking small long-term. There are too many big, beautiful things that we can do. And we should give ourselves the space to do them.

Right now

This is the best time to make a goal. Today, right now. As soon as you’re done reading this.

Sit down and write down one big amazing thing you want to do. Now, write down the steps you need to do that thing. Then, start doing it.

It’s just that easy and just that hard.

You want to write a book? Make a plan, and start brainstorming today. You want to start your own company? Great! Make a plan today. You want to get healthy, adopt a dog, buy a house. Figure out what you have to do, step by step, and start doing it.

We all have things we want to do with our lives. And we don’t have to wait for the start of a year, a quarter, a month, or a new school year to start making our goals real. We can start right now, on a random Friday or Tuesday. Right now is perfect. Go get started.

So now it’s your turn. When do you do your best goal setting? Let us know in the comments.

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