Some people are naturally more organized than others. I always work from a well-planned list and absolutely love spending time planning and putting things in their place. Others are much more spontaneous and live in what seems to me a mess - but they feel comfortable that way and always seem to be able to lay their hands on what they are looking for.

Regardless of these differences in personality, getting organized, particularly when it comes to goal setting, is an important skill that all of us can benefit from incorporating into our own individual style.

And of course, there is no better time to learn this kind of skill than when we are very young! How to get organized for goal setting is such a great gift to give a child. Your kid may grow up to be naturally organized or naturally disorganized, and both of these styles are OK - but to have the ability to do goal setting effectively and in an organized way is ALWAYS a valuable skill for life.

With that in mind, here are our top ten tips for getting organized for goal setting:

1. Give your child a corkboard. Corkboards are fabulous goal setting tools! You can quickly and easily stick up photos cut out of magazines, sketches or notes to do with your goals. It's a place to keep anything that relates to your goal quickly rather than it hiding in a pile of papers on the desk, with the inherent danger if it falling into the "out of sight, out of mind" category.
2. Teach your child to break goals into sub-goals and tasks. One of the key skills for goal setting is breaking a big goal down into manageable "bites". If you teach your child to have a proper checklist or to-do list for each goal, it will seem much more attainable. You can illustrate this to your child with the saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!"
3. Give your child lots of support. Success at goal setting is learned, like any other skill, through practice and gradual improvement. You should praise your child whenever you see him working towards his goals, or doing something small to get organized.
4. Have a special place for goal setting. Every child should have a place that they feel is their own where they can have peace and quiet. It's essential for effective and productive homework and that place is ideal for spending time planning how to achieve goals as well.
5. Have a weekly goal setting session. This is a very good habit to get into, and it helps your child organize what tasks to plan to achieve each day for the coming week.
6. Learn how to file. A loose-leaf binder is a good tool to organize goal-setting materials. You can show your child how to have a divider for each goal setting section, like "Goals for School", "Goals at Home" and "Hobby Goals". Each section can contain your child's goal list for that category, notes on progress, and any other useful pieces of paper.
7. Learn how to use calendars effectively. Part of goal setting is learning to delay gratification, and learning to plan ahead. Teach your child about setting target dates and then help him use a simple calendar to cross off or color in the days until his "end date". It is a very good tool for self-motivation. Also, for older children, a calendar is a useful way of motivating them for exam preparation - so they can visually see the day of their exam approaching.
8. Teach your child the habit of preparing for the day ahead. Rather than letting your child get into a habit of rushing as he gets up, eats breakfast and thunders out of the door to school, help him to be organized with his time each morning. Getting up 10 minutes earlier is enough to make the difference. If you teach your child to take just a few minutes to revise his goals each morning and to write down what task he is going to do TODAY to move himself one step closer to his goal, you will be giving him a gift that will pay off for life!
9. Teach your child to reward himself. Your praise is extremely important to your child, but he also needs to learn the skill and habit of self-praise. A "To Do List" is a great thing but it does sometimes make us fall into the trap of rushing from one thing to the next. When your child crosses a task off his To Do List, encourage him to pause, to feel good about his accomplishment, and to reward himself before moving on to another task.
10. Teach your child the importance of sleep hygiene. Lastly but perhaps most importantly, you should help your child form a habit of good sleep. Success and accomplishment come much more easily and pleasurably after a good, long night's sleep. Make it a rule that your child should not use a PC or do other screen work during the hour before bed. This should be a quiet winding down time. If he wants to work on his goals just before bed, he can do something relaxing like drawing or writing out his goals, or describing them to you. If he learns the importance of sleep and how to enjoy it, then he will be blessed with the ability to wake up in the morning refreshed and invigorated, and ready to organize himself to accomplish great goals!

For more ideas on ways to organize your life visit our guide on Organization and Balance.