From Resolution to Reality: Build Your Action Plan with OKRs and Placker

When we start a new cycle, such as Strategic Planning or New Year resolutions, it brings fresh energy and big goals. The challenge? Turning intentions like "I want to launch my product this year" into work that actually gets done week by week.

That's where planning matters. Not complicated planning, just connecting your big annual goals to what you're doing Tuesday morning. OKRs give you the structure. Placker's Planner View gives you the execution system.

In this article, I’m sharing the exact method I use to structure my own goals. A proven approach that I’ve personally refined for success.

Here's how to make it work.

OKRs stand for Objectives and Key Results. The concept is straightforward:

The power comes from connecting all three levels. Your Objective sets the direction. Your Key Results define success. Your Initiatives are the real work that moves you forward.

Placker handles this naturally because you can work with cards at different levels of detail and switch between views. Board view when you want to see everything. Planner view when you need to plan your week. Gantt view when you want to see the timeline.

Quick Example:

That's the flow. Big goal → measurable outcomes → actual work.

✏️ MINI-CHALLENGE: Write down ONE thing you want to accomplish this year. Only one for now. The thing that would make it worth.

In total, there will be 3-5 Objectives for the year. This focused approach helps you make real progress on what matters most.

We're using professional goals here as an example (like the product launch case), but this works just as well for personal goals, like fitness, learning, relationships, whatever you care about. Don't worry too much about how you will make it happen yet, just think of important topics for you.

For each Objective, write 2-4 Key Results. Make them specific. "Get more customers" is too vague. "Sign 100 paying customers" gives you a clear target.

The next step is breaking Key Results into Initiatives, but only for what you're working on in the near term. Maybe the next quarter. This is wave planning.

Why not plan everything upfront? Because you'll learn things in March that improve what you do in September. Your plan will naturally evolve. Planning in waves lets you stay detailed where it matters while keeping future work flexible.

Let me show you how to set this up so you can actually use it.

🟦 Note for Trello users: The first part can be done in a Trello board, but the next steps will require opening your board using the Placker interface at Placker.com

Make a new board for the year. You'll want three lists to start: Objectives, Key Results, and Initiatives. You can add more later if you need them, but this structure gives you the hierarchy you want.

Create a card in the Objectives list for each of your 3-5 big goals. Keep the titles clear. Add some context in the description about why this matters.

Open an Objective card. Add your Key Results as checklist items right there on the card. This keeps them connected.

For the product launch:

Now here's a neat trick: click and drag those checklist items out of the Objectives list and drop it into the Key Results list. Placker creates child cards for each checklist item automatically. Your Key Results are now cards you can work with, and they're still linked to the parent Objective.

You've just created your first level of hierarchy: Objectives → Key Results.

For the Key Results you're tackling in the next quarter or two, open those cards and add Initiatives as checklist items.

For "Acquire 100 paying customers," your initiatives might be:

Same move: drag that checklist from the Key Results list into the Initiatives list. Now you've got Initiative cards that are children of your Key Results, which are children of your Objectives.

That's your hierarchy: Objectives → Key Results → Initiatives.

The Key Results you're not working on yet can stay as they are, without checklist items. You'll break them down when their time comes.

✏️ MINI-CHALLENGE: Take your Objective and write out 2-3 Key Results. Make them specific enough that you'll know for sure when you hit them.

Some Initiatives benefit from more detail. "Build landing page" might need breaking down further. You can add Actions as checklist items on Initiative cards. If an Action is substantial enough that you want to plan it separately, drag it out to create a fourth level.

This gives you: Objectives → Key Results → Initiatives → Actions.

Use the level of detail that helps you make progress. Four levels for complex work, fewer for simpler goals.

Here you can either create another list for child cards or keep them as checklist items so that you can simply mark them as done without planning their details.

Switch from Board view to Planner view. This is where you set dates for your cards.

Start with Objectives. Filter by list: Objectives. Click Period and select quarters. Drag your Objectives onto Q1, Q2, Q3, or Q4.

Now filter to show Key Results. Set periods for them. For Initiatives and Actions, use a finer timeline, like weeks or days. This is your actual work schedule.

Pro tip: You can also use Gantt view to see the full timeline and adjust dates by dragging cards there.

Check Planner view each week to see what's coming up and what's in progress. Update cards as you finish work.

When you complete an Initiative, check it off. That updates the parent Key Result's checklist. When you hit a Key Result, Placker checks it off on the Objective. Progress rolls up through the whole hierarchy automatically.

As each quarter wraps up, break down the next quarter's Key Results into Initiatives. The wave planning continues, keeping you focused on what's next while staying flexible about what's further out.

Pro tip: You can use the Mixed option to manage the short term while keeping distant cards for later. It shows cards planned for Today, This Week, This Month, etc.

✏️ MINI-CHALLENGE: Consider blocking 30 minutes this week to set up your initiatives. Having it on your calendar helps make it happen.

That's the system. Simple structure, powerful execution.

Once you're comfortable with Board and Planner views, you can explore Gantt view to see your entire timeline and move cards around there. It's another helpful way to visualize your plan.

When you complete a Key Result, that's a real milestone. Take a moment to acknowledge it. These wins build momentum.

Remember wave planning: detail for what's coming soon, high-level for what's further out. This keeps you focused without getting overwhelmed.

Your next goals can actually happen. With Placker's tools, you've got a system that connects what you want to achieve with the work you do each week.

Ready to turn your goals into reality? Access Placker and build your action plan today.