Strategic Planning
Strategic planning helps prioritize areas of life by viewing the big picture and allocating time accordingly. It involves mapping out key domains and setting regular time commitments.
THE IDEA
How to Get Started
Begin by mapping the major areas of your life, such as work, family, friends, and hobbies. This “general map” helps you compare your priorities with how you spend your time.
If work takes half your time, consider what time remains for the other areas and how you want to allocate it. You might reserve Saturdays for friends and Sundays for family, for example. Use the schedule to make those choices explicit and review whether it fits your circumstances.
When to use it
Personal life planning: mapping out weekly schedules to balance work, family, and hobbies.
Business strategy: setting quarterly goals for different departments.
Educational planning: a student allocating study time among subjects.
Project management: prioritizing tasks in a project timeline.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Mapping Life Areas
Consider your life composed of work, family, friends, and hobbies. Allocate time: e.g., Saturdays for friends, Sundays for family.
Business Department Focus
A business might apply strategic planning by identifying key departments (sales, marketing, operations) and setting monthly focus areas.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
What are the major domains of your life? How much time do you currently spend on each?
How can you use strategic planning to ensure you dedicate time to each domain regularly?
What would be the first step in creating a strategic plan for your week?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Thinking in Systems and Mental Models Think Like a Super Thinker (Dawson, Marcus P)