JoesGoals: A really nice goal tracker. Or is it a to-do list manager?

JoesGoals: A simple and effective goal tracker

(Credit: CNET Networks)

JoesGoals is a simple online application that's great for tracking your daily goals. You can assign positive or negative points for things you want (or don't want) to do, and just click on the goal to add or subtract from your tally. For example, I'd like to quit eating M&M's every afternoon. I set that up as a negative goal; when I give in to it, I click on it and get a point subtracted from my goals score for the day. On the positive side, I should walk the big hill home instead of being lazy and hopping on the bus. And that's more important than a few M&M's, so I'm going to weigh it more heavily (2 points if I do it, instead of -1 if I give in to candy). JoesGoals keeps a tally of your points so you can get a good sense of how well you're balancing all the small improvements you want to make in your life.

I also find the service to be a good recurring to-do list manager. I have a few things I need to get done every day. I wouldn't call them life goals, they're just things I have to do. JoesGoals is a nice place to keep the checklist.

There's a sharing function, too: you can put a running tally of your total goal score on your blog or personal page with a simple widget (although the JoesGoals branding is over-the-top and will leave your friends wondering who Joe is), or ask friends to subscribe to your goals so they can give you support.

It's a sweet little app and definitely worth checking out.

Found on: Digg

See also: Webware's Resolution tracker roundup, This year, I swear..., and Lifehacker's collection, Six webapps to help keep your New Year's resolutions.

[marcovrv]

Right concept but requires more implementation

As a proof of concept it really excels with both an atractive and functional user interface... but it just record whether you did or not a particular task on hand, and substracts the negatives from the positives, as is they were of the same kind; you just can´t put not smoking with calling your daugther in the same "values basket" (Can I call ten times and then have the "right" to burn half a pack?)

In a goal tracking app, I would at least expect some means to define a more complete successful goal, for example "Starting next monday, for at least 22 days i´ll refrain from smoking" or "From now on, I´ll call my daughter at least twice a week". In this scenario it makes sense to add daily negatives and positives since all are steps to achieve the main goals. Otherwise it´s only a simple (although very atractive) daily checklist.

[harryche]

Great tool. But if you are looking for something has more features, more web 2.0-ish, check out <a href="http://www.goalsontrack.com">GoalsOnTrack.com</a>, a very nicely built web app designed for tracking goals and todo lists, and has time tracking. It's clear, focused, easy to navigate, worth a try.