You can use strategic thinking every day, not just for big goals and the dreams you have in your life. Use it to make your everyday life easier and be more effective as well. You just have to adapt the strategic thinking process described in the last article to one a little more suited to daily life. This is one way you can do so.
What is your goal for the day?
Most of us have small goals – usually items on a to-do list – that you want to complete each day. It might be an appointment, or something as routine as laundry. It might be a goal to take more exercise. There is at least one thing you must do each day. Ask yourself what it is each morning. Make a list if you need to do so to help you remember.
What are the ways you can get it done?
Take a few minutes to consider the different ways you can accomplish the tasks you have to finish for the day. Getting more exercise could be done by going to the gym or it could be walking to the shops instead of driving. There are bound to be multiple ways you can do even the simplest task.
Which path is the best and most effective?
Go through your list. Decide which of the many ways is going to be the most effective and best solution to the problem. If it’s raining, then you might want to opt for the gym instead of walking to the shops. Don’t spend a lot of time on this step; you should only spend a few minutes on the entire process for daily use. You are trying to optimise your time – so don’t spend too much of it on something small.
What problems are likely to crop up during the day?
Think about the problems you might encounter that can throw off your schedule and get in the way of finishing your task(s). Maybe you have a doctor’s appointment and you know from experience that you will be in there waiting for quite a while. Maybe the appointment is at rush hour, so it will take you longer to get there. Anticipate these issues and plan for them. In this case you might want to schedule the gym visit before the doctors and call there on the way back.
Go do it.
That’s all there is to the process other than going out to accomplish the goal. At the end of the day, you can think about what happened, what worked well, what failed, and use the conclusions you draw from that to help you strategically plan the following day.
Remember that the more you practice strategic thinking, the better you will get at it. This means you will see rapid improvements in your life. You will make more progress toward your goals as you think strategically more often.