Make sure your goals are realistic and timely. Realistic means a number of things such as making sure that they actually are short-term, and are not ambitious. It's okay to have ambitious goals, but for an ambitious goal, you need simpler short-term goals. Timely means that they have a set time. This is where most goal setters fail and procrastinators succeed. Procrastinators will often say "I will get it done," but by simply adding on a time and keeping a promise "I will get it done by 8:00 on Tuesday or I'm not watching Matlock." The goal automatically becomes more realistic.
Keep your goals specific, especially when they're short-term. "Get good grades in school" is not specific, neither is "Get good grades in 2nd semester Chemistry." Remember, these are short-term goals, be specific: "On Tuesday, from 8-10 pm, study and complete the homework for Chemistry." In this example, each short-term goal of studying and completing homework builds up to a larger goal of receiving good grades. If you provide loopholes for yourself to travel through, you'll find yourself making excuses to yourself and excepting them. Lay down the law, buckle down and get them done.
Bring something simple with you to track your goals. Some use technology, a palm pilot, a PDA, but this often creates dependencies. It's tempting to utilize the expensive technology you may possess, but often times it's easier to carry an index card in your wallet/purse with the goals written down. The wallet/purse is used as a suggestion because it is something which people carry around with them everywhere.
Make sure you mark off the goals when they are accomplished. This may not seem very important at first, but developing this habit insures yourself that you are actually looking at the list. Often times, these list writers will only look at the list if they're adding to it.
