Making the Effort to Strategize

Overwhelmed
As I drove to the office last month, I remember thinking about the long list of items on my to-do list for that day. I have to admit, I felt a little overwhelmed. Time management had never been an issue for me, but it didn’t seem like that was enough. I was meticulously planning out my days, keeping to the plan, but still not accomplishing everything before the end of business hours. With my upcoming events, product launches, and the needs of my clients, overwhelmed seems to be an understatement as I wondered if this is the cause of road rage.

It is likely that many of you have experienced these same feelings. Our to-do list is always lengthy, with little or no room for thinking about and planning for future opportunities. So, how do we break out of this cycle and begin looking to the future? How do we make sure that we don’t let opportunities to strategize fall by the way side?

Make the Effort
I have found that the answer to these questions is simple: focused effort. For myself, I began making a concentrated effort by setting aside time every morning to spend strategizing. While these opportunities were often only fifteen minutes stints, shutting myself off to the rest of the world and all distractions allowed me to be more progressive in thought. I typically spent this time making lists of big picture ideas, with some thought given to the benchmarks. I let the details come later, as I set long-term and short-term goals. If I made a to-do list, I scheduled the tactical steps necessary to achieve my goals.

Take Small Steps
As a result of my daily effort to strategize, my world became more manageable and meaningful. Simply going through the daily grind without thinking ahead, as I had been doing the previous month, had left me unfulfilled and behind the competition. If you aren’t doing it now, take the first step of setting a few minutes aside each day to strategize. It will make a huge difference in your everyday life.