One of the most common problems with achieving goals is actually sticking to them—and accomplishing what we need to, when we need to get it done. We say to ourselves, “no worries, I don’t have to think about that yet, I’ll have plenty of time to do it later” and forget about our goals. Or, in our more panicked moments, “it’s an enormous project, the deadline is looming, but I don’t even know where to begin” – and then just worry, in a state of paralysis.

Behavioral economists and psychologists call this “hyperbolic discounting.” It’s our tendency to prefer smaller payoffs now over larger payoffs later. And this bad habit means that we’re constantly disregarding the future when it requires sacrifices in the present.

It turns out that hyperbolic discounting is the same logical flaw that causes people to over-commit their future schedules; research has found that most people will make commitments long in advance that they would never make if the commitment required immediate action. 

The cure is fairly simple: From big lifetime goals, to projects due next month, setting goals and timelines—and then working backwards to set smaller deadlines along the way—is the surest path to success.

This is where you can harness the awesome power of your planner: Use a calendar to plan out your time.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Get out a calendar. (If you use an online calendar, I’d suggest printing out a few months, with one month per piece of paper, so you can see several months at a time. Or download a Generation WTF calendar here.)
2. Set your ultimate deadline–perhaps something like “Project Due to Boss” on January 20.
3. It’s early November, and that project deadline seems eons away. But what specific steps do you need to take to accomplish it? Break it into at least five steps—probably more.
4. Then, working backwards, figure out deadlines for each individual step.
5. Need some more guidance? Check out the appendix of Generation WTF where you will find step-by-step instructions and see sample calendars to help you stay on track.