76 Weekly Goals Examples + 6 Intentions for Better Focus

You get to the end of the week and wonder where the time went. You feel like you’ve been turning your wheels all week but actually haven’t gotten anything accomplished at all. Sound familiar?

Weekly goals are the best when it comes to making small movement forward.

After reading this post, you’ll learn how to use weekly goals to make progress on all the little things AND toward bigger goals which will allow you to get more accomplished, and ultimately live the life you desire to live.

This post may contain affiliate links which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

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Table of Contents hide

1) What Are Weekly Goals

2) What is a Weekly Focus

3) 76 Weekly Goals Examples

4) Daily vs. Weekly Goals

5) How to Set and Achieve Your Weekly Goals

6) Pros and Cons of Weekly Goals

7) Goals Template and Goal Tracker Printable

8) Let’s Bring it Home

What Are Weekly Goals

Weekly goals are simply the goals you want to accomplish in a week. It’s really pretty simple. Often, weekly goals are the tasks you set out to do at the beginning of the week that will help you move forward.

Benefits of Setting Weekly Goals

Setting weekly goals can really help you stick to working on something. When big things feel daunting, creating weekly goals is an easy way to ensure that you’re doing things each day that will bring you closer to a larger goal.

It’s also helpful to set weekly goals for random, one-off type goals that you want to ensure get done. Since a week is only 7 days, your weekly goals need to be simple and concise.

Here’s why you should set weekly goals to ensure a good weekly plan:

1. Weekly Goals Help You Work Toward Long Term Goals

Setting weekly goals helps you work on long-term goals like the ones you may set at the beginning of the year or at the outset of a new project.

I’ve written about exactly how to set and achieve your goals, and I’ve even created an action plan printable to help you really break it down.

2. Weekly Goals are Doable

Creating specific goals for the week is beneficial because you’ll be constructing simple goals that can be accomplished in just a handful of days. This means they’re doable.

When weekly goals are doable, you’re so much more likely to start in on the work.

When they feel doable, you’re much more likely to take small steps toward accomplishing goals.

3. Weekly Goals Combat Procrastination

When goals are doable and broken down into simple pieces, you won’t likely procrastinate.

You can even set weekly goals for life admin related tasks like cleaning, making appointments, and paying bills. When you put it on your to-do list or calendar, commit to doing it and you’ll combat procrastination.

It’s a lot easier to procrastinate when that *thing* is not concrete- when it’s just an abstract thing you intend to get to. Make it concrete by putting it on your agenda.

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What is a Weekly Focus

A weekly focus is a tool you can utilize that helps you highlight what’s important in a given week.

You know how some people select a word for their entire year? A weekly focus is a very tiny version of that. Weekly focuses are kind of like intentions. You set a focus, or intention, for your week and all of the things you do point back to that focus.

Weekly Focus Examples

The type of weekly focus you select is up to what you want to accomplish in a given week. Maybe you’re feeling particularly run down in the middle of a busy season, and you’re craving more balance so you make that your focus.

Ask yourself what you’re craving to be the best version of yourself. Also ask yourself what you feel you’d love to get done this week. The intersection of what your being is craving and what you want to get done is where you’ll find your focus.

Quote by Skye Sauchelli, "The intersection of what your being is craving and what you want to get done is where you'll find your intention and focus."

A Balanced Life Weekly Focus

Choose a weekly focus like this one if you are feeling a lack of balance in the various areas of your life.

Are you spending too much time thinking about finances and too little time tending to your health?
Are you too zoned into work that you’re missing sweet moments with your family?

An extra focus on balance this week will rejuvenate you.

A Productive Work Life Weekly Focus

Consider selecting this focus if you’ve noticed you could be a bit more attentive in your work.

Are you bringing too much of your personal life to the office.
Are you distracted by your phone at work?

Extra intention on being productive at work is just what you need to get back on track.

Take action steps that will increase your effectiveness and attention for work task.

An “Adulting” Related Focus

If there’s a stack of mail on your shelf that you have no idea how to address because it’s full of adulting-related things, choose this as your focus for the week. When adulting tasks have gotten pushed aside, do yourself the favor of honing in and putting your head down to get those pesky tasks taken care of.

Take action steps that will resolve all the adulting things you’ve pushed to the side. Knock them out one by one so you can get back to the better stuff in life.

A Healthy Mindset Related Weekly Focus

If you’ve been letting your boss’s negative comments get to you or you’ve been harboring resentment since your sister ditched you 2 weeks ago, you may need a healthy mindset weekly focus.

Your focus for the week should be on shifting your mindset to a more well-adjusted mindset. Work on changing your perspective and asking yourself if the narrative you’re spinning is adaptive and healthy.

A Supercharged Faith Focus

Another weekly focus you could run with is leveling up your faith. You know if you need a little spiritual reset or boost. Center your actions this week around building up your faith and getting back on track if you feel that area of your wellness has been lacking.

Then, you can be more centered and supported as you work toward other weekly goals.

The bible study company Daily Grace Co. is my go-to when I need to get back on track with my faith.

A Personal Development Related Focus

If you’re ready to amp up your inner self, try selecting a personal development-related focus for your week. Spend time looking into an area of your inner growth that interests you.

When you allot time for your own growth, you’re better positioned to work on big goals.

Weekly Intention Ideas

Your weekly focus or intention could fall into any of the categories above, but here are some specific weekly intention ideas:

This week, I’ll be intentional about getting the rest I feel I need to function at my best so I’ll go to bed an hour earlier than I’ve been going to bed.
I’m finding that I am craving learning something new lately, so this week, I’ll research a free course I can take about xyz.
I’m feeling totally disconnected and a little hopeless lately. I’m going to start my day with prayer for the next 5 days.

How to Choose and Set the Best Weekly Focus

Choosing your weekly focus isn’t even a “requirement” to work on your weekly goals. It’s just kind of a fun bonus that can help you to have a north star type of direction.

If you like the idea of having a weekly focus and want to set weekly or daily intentions, how do you set the best one? Simple: focus on how you want to feel.

Weekly focuses are centered on how you want to feel. Weekly goals are focused on what you want to accomplish. So these two things are different, but it can be helpful when they go hand in hand.

So choose the best weekly focus by asking yourself how you want to feel this week. Do you want to feel…?

Productive
Relaxed
Supported
Accomplished
Content
At peace

76 Weekly Goals Examples

Your weekly goals can come from areas like career, finance, school, health, relationships, faith, and more. There are so many categories that make up our lives, and having weekly goals in a variety of these areas can really help you to be a well-rounded, well-adjusted person. Here are tons of weekly goal ideas.

Examples for Weekly Career Goals

Work Style

Communicate clearly with my coworkers at the meeting by speaking authentically and concisely.
Take a lunch break 4 out of my 5 workdays this week.
I’ll make an effort to be more collaborative in my work tasks this week since I usually work pretty independently and tend to close myself off.
Work in front of a window so I can give my eyes a break from the screen throughout the day.

Organization

Spend time this week going through the back closet to sort out the useful materials from the dated items that are no longer relevant.
Organize my top desk drawer with drawer organizers to eliminate clutter.
Be more organized by implementing a color-coded system for my files.
Sort through my emails and save all files in archived emails.

Career Growth

Enroll in an email course that will give me free info on how to improve my negotiation skills.
Set up a call with 2 potential mentors.
Listen to one podcast episode that will increase my knowledge about my industry.
Start one project that I can add to my professional portfolio once completed.

Financial Weekly Goal Examples

Limit Spending

Make coffee at home 4 of the 5 workdays this week instead of buying a latte every day.
Consult my partner on any purchase over x amount of dollars.
Say no to at least one impulse buy urge.
Don’t eat out for lunch or dinner for the entire week.

Budgeting

Create and stick to my monthly budget.
Start tracking my spending on groceries and pet items.
Put x amount of dollars into savings from my next paycheck.

Saving

Put money toward an emergency fund this week.
Start a vacation fund.
Cash in my spare change.
Keep gift cards in front of my wallet so I spend those first.

School Weekly Goals Ideas

Studying/Getting Good Grades

Study for 1 hour right after school, before I get distracted with anything else.
Bring a snack and drink into my study space to help me focus and stay energized.
Romanticize my study routine to make it as enjoyable as possible by lighting a candle, playing coffee shop music, and getting cozy.
Actually use my calendar/planner to outline exactly what study/homework task I need to do each day of the week.

Applying for College

Create a spreadsheet to keep track of all the schools and their respective details.
Write the first draft of my personal statement for the application.
Reach out to 3 people for letters of recommendation.
Submit 1 application this week.

Health, Wellness, and Fitness Weekly Goal Examples

Sleep

Go to bed at 10:30 PM 3 out of the 5 workdays this week.
Wake up at 6:00 AM 3 out of the 5 workdays this week.
Don’t use my phone at all this week the hour leading up to bedtime.
Journal every night before bed and read 1 chapter of a book to wind down.

Movement

Take my dog for a 1 mile walk 2 days this week.
One day this week, engage in the type of exercise that feels most exciting to me that day. Lean into what I’m feeling that day.
Stretch for 5 minutes after waking up at least 3 days this week.
Put my yoga mat and sneakers in a place where they’re easily accessible to increase the likelihood I’ll use them.

Meal Prep

Prepare hard-boiled eggs Sunday night for Monday-Wednesday.
Batch make 5 salads in jars to take to work this week.
Cook 5 servings of shredded chicken to have on hand to use as needed for dinners.
Bake a healthy treat to snack on when I have a sweet tooth.

Hydration

Fill up my big water bottle each night to bring to work the next day.
Drink half my weight in ounces at least 3 days this week.
Keep a glass of water next to my bed to drink first thing in the morning when I wake up.
Drink unsweetened, herbal iced tea with dinner instead of soda every night this week.

Self-Care and Mental Health Weekly Goal Ideas

Self-Care

Take a bike ride one day this week.
Do my body dry brush once this week before my shower.
Set aside 15 minutes one day this week to do something just for fun (paint, play an instrument, ect.)
Take a ride to your favorite location.

Mental Health

Keep my social calendar pretty open this week since I’m feeling overworked.
Talk to my counselor about xyz.
Call my best friend/mom/sister to chat about xyz that’s been bothering me.
Do a brain dump.

Relationship Weekly Goal Examples

Relationship with Yourself

Be kind to myself this week by monitoring my self-talk
Journal about my wins and my struggles
Set a self-care goal each night to accomplish the following day

Grab this Self-Care Calendar to help you incorporate more self-care into your day in tiny, doable ways!

Be sure to check your spam and promotional folders in your email for the free download!

Relationship with Others

Call my mom/dad/family member just for the sake of asking how they’re doing and if they need anything.
Spend uninterrupted (no phone) time with my partner.
Compliment my coworker in the upcoming meeting.

Examples of Fun Weekly Goals

Have a no-spend date night or girls’ night.
Take a hike over the weekend to the spot I’ve been meaning to check out.
Spend one hour one night this week [doing that exciting/fun thing you’ve been trying to make time for].

Mindfulness Goal Examples

Focus on operating in the present this week when the future starts to worry me.
Start a gratitude journal and write in it nightly.
Set up a screen time limit on Instagram so I’m only spending 30 minutes per day on the app.

Weekly Goal Ideas for Faith

Do a morning devotional 3 times this week.
Make an effort to pray as I sip my coffee each workday.
Attend church this week.
Reach out to my friend who hasn’t been at church lately.

Examples of Life Admin Goals

Schedule the electrician to come this Friday.
Rake the leaves on the side of the house before leaf pick up this weekend.
Clean the bathrooms this Tuesday and the kitchen this Wednesday.
Vacuum on Friday and mop the bathroom floors on Saturday.
Call the doctor to sort out the issue with my medical bill.

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Daily vs. Weekly Goals

Weekly goals are just a bit wider and more encompassing than daily goals. Your daily goals are the smaller tasks it takes to accomplish your weekly goals.

Weekly goals are more big-picture than daily goals. But then monthly goals are more big picture than weekly goals. It’s just about how far down you want to break it.

Maybe you hate the idea of daily goals and having certain things designated for certain days feels too much like you’re tied down. If that’s you, stick to weekly goals as long as you have the confidence in yourself that you’ll get them done by the end of the week. Maybe you don’t need as much structure.

I crave and love structure, so daily goals work really well for me.

Break Down Weekly Goals into Daily Goals

Let’s say that one of your weekly goals is to take care of the stack of mail and bills on the counter. That’s a pretty big task- depending on how long you let them pile up. Yes, you can do this task in a week, but maybe not in one sitting.

So try breaking it up into different days. Here’s a good weekly plan:

Maybe on Monday, you open up all the mail that’s just statements and you file the important stuff away.

Then Tuesday you call your doctor’s office to inquire about the bill they sent you, but you have to leave a message.

Wednesday, the doctor’s office gets back to you and you settle that and pay over the phone.

Thursday, you open all the other mail and toss what’s garbage and put the important stuff where it should go.

How Many Weekly Goals Should You Have?

There’s no exact formula or certain number of weekly goals that equals productivity and success for a good weekly plan. You may be perfectly fine and happy just setting one weekly goal. Or maybe you want to have a handful of weekly goals that touch on different areas, like health, career, and relationships.

Only create as many goals as feels doable. There’s no sense in creating 5 goals for the week if that feels too overwhelming for you to start. I’d rather see you create just one weekly goal that’s doable so you do the work to accomplish it instead of being stuck at the starting line.

How to Set and Achieve Your Weekly Goals

Weekly goals are only as good as your ability to work on them. So what’s the recipe for setting and achieving your weekly goals? Be thoughtful, take small action, and recognize your progress. Below are steps you can take to ensure your weekly goals are getting accomplished.

Brainstorm About All Levels of Goals

There are tons of different versions and types of goals. You’ve got:

Life goals
Yearly goals
Quarterly goals
Monthly goals
Weekly goals
Daily goals

When you’re setting weekly goals, make sure these are actually things you can accomplish in a week.

Here’s my process to understand what my weekly goals should be:

At the end of every year, I create quarterly goals for the following year
I break the quarterly goals into monthly goals
I break the monthly goals into weekly and daily goals

I follow this process because it helps me ensure that my weekly goals are aligned with my larger quarterly and yearly goals.

It’s possible to create weekly goals without a process like the one above, especially for things relating to life admin and relationships. But when you’re talking about career, finances, and health, it’s helpful to brainstorm the larger goals first, then break those down into smaller weekly goals.

Take Time to Reflect

Reflect on the goals you set. It’s so much better to change a goal for the better than to stick with a goal that’s not quite on target. It’s natural and good to adjust your course as you work toward something.

The goal you set out at the beginning may not be the actual helpful goal that you should be working on. This is part of the process.

Reflect on if the work you’re doing toward your weekly goals is actually beneficial and moving you in the right direction. If not, it’s totally okay to change course. You’re not wasting time or losing any of your hard work. That time and work brought you the insight you have now!

Have a Weekly Focus

Just as we discussed earlier in this blog post, having a weekly focus can really help you hone in. Align your goals to your weekly focus where possible for even better results. Structure your goals in a way that honors your weekly focus or intention.

Construct SMART Goals

You probably know this structure of goal setting. Make your goals:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

There’s so much value in this, although it can feel silly to actually implement this structure. When you know exactly what you should be working on, when the resultus are quantifiable, when your goal is actually doabe and makes sense for you and your life, and when you’re on a schedule, you can accomplish seriously big things.

Smart Goal Example

A regular, ill-constructed goal might sound like this:

Eat healthier foods so I can feel better

A SMART goal sounds like this:

Specific: Eat more whole foods with each meal by cooking a majority of my meals at home so I can improve my lifestyle and habits to be ready for the big race
Measurable: Only eat out one time each month, buy 75% of my food from the perimeter of the grocery store (avoiding the inner aisles where processed food is), and have at least one whole food idem with every meal
Attainable: I can utilize the farmer’s market down the road
Relevant: My doctor suggested I improve my diet and doing so will help me work toward training for the marathon I want to do with my sister in a few months
Time-bound: I have three and a half months before the marathon, so by [month], I will be eating 1 whole food with every meal, 6 days per week.

Chunk Your Goals

You won’t change your entire diet, or start out running 5 miles, or land a director’s position, or read 24 books per year without small action. In other words, there’s no one action you could take to do any of the things I just listed. Each of them requires many smaller steps in order to accomplish.

This is why you need to chunk your goals. This is why you need to take tiny action.

If you set huge goals with no roadmap to get them accomplished, you’ll never work on them. Trust me, chunking is the way to go if you want to see progress and success.

Set Goals that are Aligned with YOU

If you really want to get your boating license, don’t make your goal to go scuba diving. I know that’s a silly example, but life can really trick us into getting a bit off track without even noticing.

Check in with yourself that your goals are aligned to what you want.

Write Down Your Goals

When you think about your goals, they’re intangible. When you write your goals down, they automatically become more concrete. Write them down somewhere, and even better, tell someone about them! This makes you feel accountable.

Here’s a goals journal if you want to get fancy with it!

Shedule Goals on Your Calendar

Schedlule your weekly goals on your calendar. I love to draw little squares that act as a check box for me to check off once I’ve completed a weekly goal.

Whether you break your weekly goal down or you just jot it down on the calendar at the beginning of the week, get it on the calendar so it’s staring at you, waiting to be worked on.

Planner Options

Combo weekly and monthly calendar/planner

Family planner for the fridge

Daily planner

Stay Accountable

Whether you stay accountable with an actual accountablitliy partner or you utilize a loved one, or you just keep yourself accountable with Siri to remind you of things, accountability is a helpful tool when working toward weekly goals.

I’m forever setting reminders in my phone so that I can keep myself accountable. Maybe I’m just independent and don’t like to rely on anyone else to keep me accountable. 😉

Track Progress with a Goal Tracker

Try this goal tracker to ensure you’re actually staying on track.

It feels SO good to see real progress toward something you want to accomplish.

Celebrate Wins

I know this sounds cheesy but I also know how fun it is and how good it feels to genuinely celebrate your wins.

Recently, I took myself out for a chai latte to celebrate a win in my professional life. It felt so fun to take myself out solely for the purpose of congratulating myself.

Pros and Cons of Weekly Goals

Just like anything, weekly goals are for some people and not for others. Decide for yourself if incorporating weekly goals will be an effective strategy for yourself.

Pros of Weekly Goals:

You can get really granular about exactly what needs to get done
You can stay on track for the month, ensuring that with each week that goes by, you’re making progress
You can get done all the random life tasks that pile up
They help you see quick progress

Cons of Weekly Goals:

If you’re a big-picture thinker, you may feel like weekly goals drag you down into the details too much

Goals Template and Goal Tracker Printable

Check out these resources for tracking your goals:

Personal goal setting templates

Let’s Bring it Home

You now have an idea of how to set a good weekly plan by setting weekly goals. This post has tons of goal ideas for you to get your ideas flowing.

If you’ve been feeling stuck and like you aren’t making progress or getting done what you want to get done in a week, use weekly goals to start making progress.

You’ve got all the tools and ideas, so go make it happen.