Do you ever get to the end of your day, look back and find that you've achieved absolutely nothing? For a goal setter, there is nothing more frustrating than those days that just seem to mysteriously disappear.

In my experience there are three main reasons why some days seem to slide off into the ether without you noticing.

Here are my biggest time-stealers and how to stop them.

1. Not having a plan. Although I am a regular and, I think, pretty efficient goal setter, I do not always start each day with a proper plan. Sometimes for various reasons, I miss my regular planning slot, the night before and I wake up with only a vague idea of what I am going to do today. So I start something, do it for a while, then drift to something else and maybe dabble for a while in something completely irrelevant and then before I know it; the day has gone. So my Stealer Beater No 1 is - Write down your plan and stick to it.
   
2. Distractions. Even when I do have a well-written plan; even when I have mapped out my day, hour by hour, I still sometimes let down my guard and allow distractions to get in the way of me achieving my set tasks. Sometimes, sure, there are genuine emergencies and things that absolutely must be done, but these are thankfully rare. What I'm talking about here is the day to day things that crop up all the time. People needing your help, ringing telephones, an inbox full of e-mails. All of these have their place, but they should never be allowed to take priority over your goals. So Stealer Beater No 2 is - Take control of your distractions. Only allocate them the non critical time they deserve, when it suits you.
3. Lack of motivation. There have been times in my life when I struggle to raise the energy to meet my goals. When this happens, I ask myself two key questions. Is this procrastination? In which case the only cure is keep working right on through the voices in my head, telling me to quit. Or, is this a lack of belief in my goal. If I find myself questioning my belief, then it is time to re-examine the goal and figure out if it is really what I want to do. Sometimes, it turns out that I have set the wrong goal, or things have changed and it is less relevant to me now. So my final Stealer Beater is - Drown out the voices or run a goal check, I guarantee you it will be one or the other.