What is Tactical Thursday?

Tactical Thursday is a focused 60 seconds of your time, that you choose to invest on a weekly basis, in your personal and professional development. It's designed, using best practice in evidence-based psychology, to enhance your career well-being and foster your overall professional and personal development.

During your 60 second pause you reflect on the week that has passed, focus on the strengths and weaknesses in that week, acknowledge personal and professional victories, and pinpoint areas where improvements can be made.

Why Thursday?

We choose Thursday for a number of different, and very practical reasons. First off, Thursday is that day of the week when you know how things have gone over the past 7 days. You are close to the weekend, so before the chaos of Friday hits, it’s a good time to reflect upon the week that has passed, whilst giving yourself enough time to plan for the week ahead.

It’s also a good day of the week to check in on you progress with your non-negotiables. At this point in the week you may notice a patten emerging with your physical non-negotiables, that is ultimately impacting your ability to thrive at work and in your career. For example, you might have binged on Succession and ended up going to bed at 1am so you are exhausted. Or maybe you are so busy at work that you haven’t eaten well, and this means you energy levels are depleted. On the other hand, you may not have moved much this week and your ability to focus is compromised, or you notice that niggly pain in your shoulder/neck/back is bothering you.

Pen in hand…

As you know here at A Career to Love we are big fans of writing and the multiple benefits that writing provides for our ability to cognitively process. For this reason, Tactical Thursday focuses your attention by asking you to write in your favourite notebook with a pen that you enjoy to use. As you grab your pen and notebook, alongside your favourite drink (in your favourite mug or glass) use these 5 questions to guide your thoughts…

1. What went well this past week?
2. What were the challenges?
3. What was in my control?
4. Where can I get help?
5. What is the smallest thing within my control that I can change to make next week a better week?

The decision to incorporate Tactical Thursday into your weekly routine supports you as you become more conscious and engaged in your own career development. In many ways, it puts you in a position of agency over the things that you are within your control and shifts you focus away from things that are outside your control.

Not alone this, by celebrating victories, embracing challenges, understanding your sphere of influence, cultivating your support networks, and embracing incremental progress, on a consistent basis you begin to reset your relationship with your career, notice small things that if tweaked now will ultimately pre-empt future issues.

Additionally, using Tactical Thursday as an opportunity to check in on your non-negotiables keeps your boundaries in check and preserves your ability to protect your yes, and own your no. This in turn enhances your career wellbeing and your overall sense of wellness.  

Tactical Thursday for Teams

If you are a team leader or work alongside a group of colleagues integrating Tactical Thursday into your weekly team check in’s is a brilliant way to build psychological safety, to encourage early-stage problem solving, and to build trust amongst your team. Integrate Tactical Thursday by making Thursday morning coffee a team connection time. Ask everyone to individually answer the questions, and when you meet be ready to share responses. As team leader listen carefully, with the intention of hearing not solving issues, and at the end ask the team to collectively work on solving issues or supporting one another.

Trust us, making the choice to integrate Tactical Thursday into your weekly practice and it will become your trusted ally on the transformative journey towards career wellbeing, and personal success…

If you would like to hear more about Tactical Thursday and some of the other concepts Sinéad talks about check out her interview with Taragh Loughrey Grant for RTE Lifestyle by following this link.