We have already seen that develop a strategy allows optimal time management and a more effective and efficient realization of your projects. One strategy is toidentification of objectives of any activity, of the ways and means to reach it, as well as of deadlines and timing required to complete the various stages.
Object of a strategy they can be either work activities that personal projects. It is also possible to group several projects into a single strategy or define as many strategies as there are projects.
Chess teaches us the power of "why?" very clearly. Every move has a consequence and is related to the overall strategy or it is not. If you don't question the reason for each move you will end up losing to any player who applies a coherent plan.
Garry Kasparov
But how to develop a winning strategy?
process a strategy proceed as follows:
- Identify the goal you want to achieve (for example: the launch of a promotional campaign for a new product). The goal should be well defined and as clear as possible. If you don't know exactly what you want, it's impossible develop a strategy.
- Once the goal is identified, you have to ask yourself what it takes to achieve it. Define, therefore, all activities necessary for the realization of the project (for example: meeting with commercials, market research, creation of packaging, advertising support and creation of a website).
- For every activity you have identified you must define a deadline and time you need to perform it. If you carry out a project and don't give yourself deadlines, you risk procrastinating and not expressing the maximum potential in terms of organization, focus, productivity and speed. Imagine managing a project with an indefinite deadline: don't you think you would be tempted to take it easy?
The ideal would be that visually depict your strategy so that you have a clear presentation of activities that await you. Use a spreadsheet (for example Excel) or create a grid yourself on any white sheet (by hand or on your PC). Proceed as follows: trace the vertical columns with the number of days the plan must cover. If the plan doesn't take days but months, then prepare a sheet for each month. Then, on the left side of the sheet affix the words "Activities" and under this heading lists all the operations to be performed in that period of time. For each activity, mark with an "X" the days you will take care of it. Here is an example (very simplified, but that gives the idea) made with Excel:
Developing a strategy, determining an order of priorities, seeing things that are still distant as close and being able to act consistently with what is planned is not always easy: sometimes you even have to draw up several strategies before you get to the right one. Either way, once you have your strategy in place, you will experience a feeling of extreme satisfaction. Always keep it in a prominent place. Hang it on the wall or keep it in your project book (which I already told you about in another article). It is very important to have a constant reminder of tasks to be done.
Strategies are a sort of "odi et amo". On the one hand they are stimulants, on the other painful. Painful because they continually remind us of the need to proceed with established plans. Also painful when it is late with respect to the established times. But they are certainly also very inspiring, since they help us realize the magic of transforming ideas, dreams and plans into something real and tangible. And the resulting feeling is extremely satisfying!
Then develop your own strategy too: when you have completed your projects you will feel the same satisfaction that an artist feels when contemplating a newly sculpted sculpture. By shaping your days, your days will shape your life.
