Bucket List and Life Goals Sheet

Who this is for

A list of the things you actually mean to do. Each line asks for the thing itself, why it matters enough to write down, the first step that would move it and roughly when — then leaves a box to tick.

Anyone whose list of someday things lives in a notes app and never gets looked at, couples writing one between them, and people marking a birthday or a new chapter with something more useful than a resolution.

What this helps you track

• What you want to do, written down in your own words
• Why each one matters, which is what separates a plan from a daydream
• The first step — the one small thing that would start it
• Roughly when you want it to happen, in whatever terms suit it
• What has been done, and the date it happened

How to use it

1. Write whose list it is and the date you started it.
2. Put down the things you want to do, one per row, without editing yourself on the first pass.
3. Go back over the list and write why each one matters. Anything with nothing in that column is worth crossing out.
4. Write the first step for each — the phone call, the search, the amount to put aside — in words small enough to actually do.
5. Put a rough when against it: a season, a year, a stage of family life, or simply 'next'.
6. Tick and date the ones you do, and start a fresh sheet when this one is more ticks than lines.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How many things go on a list like this?

As many as you mean. There is no number on this sheet and no view about it; some people fill every row and some write four lines and stop.

Why is there a column for the first step?

Because a bucket list usually fails at the beginning rather than the end. A line that names the first step is something you can do on a wet Tuesday; a line that says 'see the northern lights' is not.

Is this different from the personal goals planner?

Yes. The goals planner is for a handful of goals being worked on now, with milestones and progress. This sheet is the longer, looser list that the goals get picked out of.

What do I put in the 'when' column?

Whatever makes sense for that line — a year, a season, 'before the kids leave home', 'when the loan is paid off'. It is not a deadline unless you want it to be.

Can two people share one?

Plenty do. Write both names at the top and mark whose is whose in the notes, or keep one sheet each and a third for the ones you want to do together.