Define Your Goals the Night Before

Published on
March 17, 2025

Target by Libby Ventura from The Noun Project

If the first thing you do in the morning is check your email, you’re setting yourself up for a day filled with reactive work.  This can easily lock you into a cycle of dealing with  pseudo-emergencies well into your evenings, leaving you drained and with  little to no control over your larger priorities.

Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek offers some simple advice on how to focus on your goals:

Define your one or two most important to-dos before dinner, the day before.

Dan Pink, the NYT bestselling author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, gives similar advice:

Establish a closing ritual. Know when to stop  working. Try to end each workday the same way, too. Straighten up your  desk. Back up your computer. Make a list of what you need to do  tomorrow.

By spending some time the night before to write your goals down for the following day, you’ll return to the driver’s seat.