Goal Milestone Calculator

How it is calculated

The tool splits the remaining distance evenly. remaining = target − current, per milestone = remaining / milestones, per day = remaining / days and days per milestone = days / milestones. Target and current share one unit of your choice (money, kilometres, pages, kilograms); days is the number of days left until the deadline. Amounts are shown with two decimals and the milestone length in days with one (marked d). The number of milestones must be a whole number of at least 1, and days must be above zero; otherwise no result is shown. The pace is a straight line, so it assumes progress is equal every day. If the target is below the current value, the figures come out negative, which reads as an amount to reduce, for example a weight to lose. The tool does not recalculate when you fall behind; enter your new current value and remaining days again.

Common mistakes

• Entering the deadline in weeks or months in the days field. Per-day and days-per-milestone figures are then wrong by a factor of 7 or about 30.
• Putting the amount still needed in the current field. Enter how far you already are; the tool subtracts it from the target.
• Treating the pace as a guarantee. Equal daily progress is rarely realistic for money or training, so use the milestone dates to re-check rather than as a rigid timetable.
• Entering a non-whole milestone count such as 2.5. The tool accepts only whole milestones and shows no result for 2.5, so round to a whole number.
• Choosing very many milestones for a short deadline. With 500 milestones in 3.5 days, each one is shorter than a tenth of a day, the tool shows 0.0 d between milestones, and the checkpoints stop being useful.