1. Personal goals. Instead of creating multiple to-do lists, consider your life as a whole. By acknowledging that you are more than the sum of your parts, you can work on what researchers call intergoal facilitation. 
2. Self-regulation. Once you have selected your integrated goals, you need to understand and manage your reactions to events happening around you. This self-regulation process involves practicing new skills or seizing the right moment, and finding ways to overcome obstacles to success.
3. Age-related expectations. You may need to adjust your goals based on the phase of your life. 

There is great variation in the way people approach structuring their lives, with different approaches to planning, goal setting, and decision making.

• The first approach is to live for today. People in this category prefer what is current to what has already happened o...