Web app Lifetick offers a systematic way of making long-range goals--like taking a trip around the world, losing weight or running a marathon--a reality. But it doesn't pay enough attention to simple day-to-day tasks.

Lifetick starts you off on a gradual, structured approach. You must first set what Lifetick calls your "core values." These come before your long-term goals: they are what make you set those goals. For example, if one of your dreams is running a marathon, one of your core values probably has something to do with fitness or wellness. You can set up to 10 core values, although most people would probably not need so many.

After considering your core values, it's time to set some goals. Each goal relates to a core value, and can have a priority (high, medium, low). Lifetick also asks for a due date for the goal, as well as for your motivation (why you want to accomplish this goal). Finally, Lifetick asks if the goal is SMART -- specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-specific.

Now that you have SMART goals stemming from your core values, the next step is to break them down into plans consisting of small doable steps and get to work. This is one area where Lifetick falls short. Its task management module is not as granular as I would expect. It does allow for recurring tasks, but it doesn't let you nest tasks to create hierarchies of related tasks within your goal. Having to transition from a large and lofty goal into a flat list of small individual steps is a big leap, and this can break the process.

One of the most important things to do when working towards a large, distant goal, is to keep at it and do something every day or every week to get closer to that goal. To help you do that, Lifetick can email you. However those reminders don't have any motivating imagery or quotes, and therefore can easily end up being more nagging than helpful.

To be a viable day-to-day solution, Lifetick needs to get better with simple tasks. Ideally, it would work as a personal project management system, with task nesting and better keyboard shortcuts. Until that happens, Lifetick can be useful as a tool for thinking about your life, assessing your priorities, and figuring out where you want to go.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can use this Web-based software.

--Erez Zukerman