How does one use his mind to create a plan ?

By deconstructing a problem into smaller pieces. I think people intuitively write business rules in their head for all problems. They may not account for all the options, and they may only see the happy path, but in reality, problem solving comes in the form of deconstructing a problem into Yes/No format.

Think about it

I don’t think that you think very much about how to think. Do you think that my thoughts regarding the way that you think or don’t think are worth thinking about? Or do you think not?

if you can think about how you think then you are cool. then you can change the way you think.

if you can think about how you solve a problem then also you are cooler. then you can solve any problem .

your thoughts about my way of thinking are worth thinking about cause you made me say something i wanted to say.

Duh!

I look at the desired result, and work backwards to the point of origination..

I break the plan down heirarchically, even in the brainstorming mode we find ourselves laate at night when all is quiet and fluthering is slow <g> ; most frequently using a tool/software , Mindmanager Pro. MMP is also useful to maintain a summary and priority for ‘plans-in-progress’ and also to just do lists; do this, do that, do the other. MMP also supports links to web, documents, images, et.al. Online I use Vitalist for a GTD tool. The point is I need these tools to give me some instant documentation of all levels of my planning/thinking.

The same way you came up with this question and put it up on fluther.

I look for analogous situations, remember what I did in that situation, and then try to imagine what would happen if I applied it in this situation.

Like others, I break thinks down into smaller steps, and then figure out which order I should perform those steps in, given the availability of the resources needed at that time. Some steps may depend on the results of prior steps, so that helps arrange the plan in a sensible sequence.

So I employ imagination, memory, logic and analysis in order to create a plan.

There have been a number of good answers here. I do not have anything specific to add, so I will make a book recommendation. The mathematician George Polya wrote several books for the general reader. Probably the most popular of these is How To Solve It http://tinyurl.com/yjar2x9. I have not myself read it, but I know that many people outside of math have read it and been able to make use of it.

@judochop You took my answer : – )