How to track your goals: Proven methods and tools for success

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April 8, 2025

In today's fast-paced world, efficiently setting and tracking goals can be the key to success. Dr. Gail Matthews of the Dominican University of California found that people who track their goals in writing are much more likely to achieve them than those who keep them in their heads. This article provides the tools to start setting and writing down your goals, turning them into reality.

Key takeaways

Teams using productivity tools experience faster goal achievement

Organizations using systematic goal-tracking methods can potentially double the completion rates of all projects

Regular personal goals tracking can lead to markedly higher success rates

The psychology of success

When we set goals and try to gradually achieve them, some really interesting things start happening in our brains. It’s pretty well-known at this point that if you see your everyday progress (literally, like, with your eyes), motivation skyrockets. And if someone’s actually watching you, that just does wonders. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Dopamine kickback – when you visualize, your brain gives you a small treat every time you accomplish something.
Responsibility effect – when someone is watching you do things, you don’t want to let them down, which greatly boosts your productivity.
Gratitude – even the smallest step toward success motivates you as if someone noticed you and gave you praise.

Productivity software

There are certain productivity tools out there that can ease your daily grind and make things more traceable. Here’s how they help:

Real-time tracking. Monitor the situation and always be ready to adjust if results are lacking.
Auto notifications. Smart reminders will keep you posted on deadlines and important updates, minimizing mistakes and bottlenecks.
Data visualization. Some gorgeously designed dashboards can turn tons of information and numbers into understandable and transparent data, aligning teams in one direction and minimizing stress.

Speaking of which, Taskee can do everything listed above, providing you with much-needed control over your workflows.

Where to start

“Tracking your goals” might sound simple but one very intricate process – you’ll have to keep every small detail in sight to succeed. Organizational health remains the best predictor of value creation and a sustainable source of competitive advantage according to McKinsey’s research. So it is worth all the trouble, trust us. And McKinsey.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Strict goals – your tasks should be as understandable and narrowed down as possible. And, most importantly, contribute to the long-run goal.
Deadline management – keep them realistic and leave some space for adjustments.
Resource delegation – allocate people and resources smartly – everybody’s working, no one’s overworked.
Progress monitoring – stay in the loop, regularly check how things go, and look for potential areas for improvement.

Examples from practice

Data is your best friend on the road to success. Let’s take a look at Netflix, for starters – these guys were exemplary in their data analytics for a long time. A few ways Netflix uses to eliminate bottlenecks and improve its daily workflow:

Analytical integration. Fellas at Netflix not only analyze their data but make it so that they can find potential problems before they become…well, problems. And it’s all in real-time, believe it or not, meaning that all the changes can be applied instantly.
Efficiency metrics. Netflix also has special tools that not just track overall progress, but specific tasks and assignments. Work’s optimized, resources delegated – everyone’s happy.
Predictive planning. Machine learning is not just ChatGPT and a few questionable chatbots; it’s also in-house tools used by multi-billion-dollar corporations like Netflix to predict and prevent potential crises ahead of time.

No wonder their revenue skyrockets from year to year despite all the flops and unwatchable series.

Instruments you’ll need

If you and your version of OCD are not into bullet-point lists, spreadsheets, and other archaic ways of tracking progress – we’ve got good news for you. There are plenty of ways to make goal-tracking productive and fun.

Simplicity and intuitive design can make even the most dreadful task manageable, and Taskee has just that:

Intuitive dashboards. Everything you need is always where you need it.
Automatic progress tracking. The system does the whole tracking thing by itself. No more manual labor.
Smart notifications. You get only the most important stuff, not missing a single important update.
Team collaboration. Discuss tasks and share ideas right there on the platform, no Zoom meetings or lengthy chat correspondence are needed.

Optimization strategies

There are at least a few daily routines you can include in your everyday pipeline to make task tracking as optimized and effortless as possible, let’s take a look:

Morning check-up. Think and write down everything that needs to be done this day to not waste time later. Specify the goals you want to reach and how you’ll be doing that.
Evening check-up. Write a list of what you’ve managed to accomplish and what you haven’t and try to understand what was the most problematic area – adjust if necessary.
Weekly analysis. Check how things are going and see if changes need to be made.
Monthly planning. Is everything going according to the plan? Month is a long stretch of time – surely there’s some useful data to scavenge.
Quarterly rating. By the time you’ve been tracking your goals for at least a quarter, you’ll probably have enough info to adjust the process to perfection.

These are common practices used by many successful corporations. If it brings in billions, it could help you too.

Interesting fact

Research shows that those who follow the advice above are guaranteed to increase employee engagement by 47%. Additionally, project completion rates improve by as much as 33%.

Related articles:

You can learn how to boost efficiency by exploring Project roadmap: A strategic guide to planning and executing successful projects.

If you're looking to improve your productivity, we recommend reading The project management triangle: Balancing scope, time, and cost.

For better team alignment, check out Understanding task dependencies in project management.

Conclusion

Track your goals, and they’ll become a reality rather than just dreams. Simply setting them and waiting won’t get you anywhere. Stay on top of everything that’s happening—it makes adjusting your plans much easier. Platforms like Taskee simplify this process significantly. Combine all the insights we’ve discussed, and you’ll see results in no time.