How do you handle your in-game projects?

I have an overarching goal in Final Fantasy XIV: be level 50 everything. All crafts, all gathering classes, all combat classes. It's a worthy goal, but it's also the sort of thing that's going to take me roughly forever to accomplish. So I don't tend to work on the big project; I pick little goals along the way, like getting one level on a specific class every day. When I get bored with one, I move on to another.

Not everyone works like that. Some people would rather not have little goals, preferring one big goal to just push on. Get to the level cap with one class, then on to the next one, no breaks to risk distraction. So which do you prefer? Do you like to have sidelines or do you find them distracting? How do you handle your in-game projects, especially ones that you know are going to take quite some time?

TH