The Pleasure of Planning

I'll be the first to admit that my life would be ever so much easier to manage if I would only do more planning and stick to the plans I do make. I've tried many techniques for time

management, only to give up on most of them within a week (or less, if we're being honest).

If you've had a similar experience, you may have reacted the same way I have and blamed

yourself. I also recognize that I can be overly optimistic when I plan, believing that I can

somehow accomplish ten or even twelve hours worth of work in an eight hour time frame.

When it comes to time management, I tell myself I am disorganized, forgetful, and lazy. Can you guess which part of me is saying those things? Oh yes, it’s my old friend Little Miss Goody Two Shoes,

my inner critic.

Intentions

I’d like to take a few moments here to talk about the words we use to talk about planning. I love

the word “intention” when it comes to choosing a mindset around an action. Intention helps me to remember both my plan and the reason for it. However, as the old saying goes, we also know the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

I think the word "intentions" has two different connotations here. Those intentions that

pave the road to Hell are ideas about actions you want to do or mean to do or think you

SHOULD do, but you don’t have definite plans to carry out those actions. Many of us intend to go on a diet or try to lose a little weight, but how many of us actually write out a meal plan or start exercising?

When you deliberately set an intention, you do make a plan to meet a goal. You decide to do a specific action in a certain place and/or at a certain time, and when you find yourself in that place or at that time, you have the opportunity to meet that goal.

Resisting Scheduling

Making plans may also involve setting up schedules or lists of actions to be done. Some people

thrive on this kind of structure. If you are one of them, you already know the joy of planning. You

love measuring your progress against your plan, keeping up with your calendar, and checking

things off your to-do list.

Others, like me, rebel against the tyranny of a schedule. If I want to

be sure to sabotage my own success, I make myself a schedule. The more detailed, the

better. I’m not sure what it is inside me that craves structure and does well within it, but pushes

back against scheduling at the same time.

Maybe you are like me in this respect, or maybe you resist something else. I don’t think we

really need to waste time trying to figure out what it is that makes us resist. What really matters

is finding a work-around for getting whatever it is that we want. In other words, finding a way to

find pleasure in planning—and ultimately in implementing the plans we make.

How to Set Meaningful Goals

Like most humans, I take pleasure and even find joy in accomplishing goals, especially goals

that are meaningful to me. And by meaningful, I don’t necessarily mean profound. I just mean I

value the outcome.

I like games, and I love to have friends and family come over to my house to eat and socialize,

because connection with others is meaningful to me. If you look, you can spot a key to finding the

pleasure in planning here.

My goal regarding a gathering like this is not to set a perfect table or have my house perfectly decorated or have food so perfect it would make Pinterest drool. My goal is to connect with other human beings and enjoy their company in the context of a potluck dinner party with board games afterward.

When I focus on that joyful goal and keep my eyes firmly on the prize of that end result, I get very motivated to make my lists and schedules and to do the things I plan in a timely manner. A goal that you are truly invested in working toward can make planning for how to reach that goal much easier.

I admit, I was a bit daunted when I saw the list of jobs to do and the amount of time I had to do them before the dinner party, but it turned out to be a whole lot of fun instead of a whole lot of drudgery, because I turned my focus to the intentions I had. I wanted to enjoy the company of friends, and I wanted them to enjoy themselves as well. It was so much fun, I can hardly wait to do it again. Instead of being draining, the whole experience was energizing and rewarding.

Have you ever had a similar experience? Have you planned your wedding and then been

absolutely thrilled with the way the day turned out? Have you planned a vacation that everyone

in the family can’t wait to do again? Have you hosted a conference that attendees are still

talking about years later? Do you feel drained or energized when you think about doing it again?

Well, maybe not a second wedding, if the first one worked out.

The Rewards of Planning

There are additional emotional rewards to be gained by planning. If you are laying out plans for

an event you are going to enjoy, you are giving yourself something to look forward to.

Anticipating something enjoyable is a great defense against depression. All of us need to

know there will be something good coming in the future. So planning can reduce feelings of

sadness and depression.

Planning can also reduce anxiety. Planning can reassure you that you have all your bases

covered. Even if you don’t think of everything at first, planning can buy you a cushion as you go

forward with implementing plans. If you see gaps that need to be filled in, you will have time to

do that. It’s better to know that with time to spare than to discover it when time is running out.

Having a design in mind can help you see the big picture, whether the plan is for a single

meeting or your entire life. Seeing the big picture can help you feel more secure in your place in

the world. It can also help you feel more courageous if you don’t like what you see in the big picture and decide to change your place in the world.

Flexibility Is Your Friend

Making a plan doesn’t have to mean you have boxed yourself in or painted yourself into a

corner. You don’t have to turn into a rigid, unbending slave to your plan. You are the master of it,

and if you don’t like the way it is going, you can make a new plan or change the existing one. It’s

your plan, your life, your decision.

Yes, I do know the best laid plans of mice and men can still go wrong, as the poet Robert Burns

said. But when you are open to possibility, you can fold whatever happens into a new plan. There is a lot to be said for being open to whatever life brings you.

I don’t want you to get into a closed mindset because you are sticking to a plan no matter what. I do want you to be open to ideas, options, and opportunities that come along when you are going with the flow and seeing what happens.

But if you do that all the time, you may end up washed up on the shore, wishing you had paddled your own canoe a little bit more. You don’t have to feel trapped, and you don’t

have to get bogged down in the details. You can make your plans, but be open to changing

them, keeping in mind your goals and outcomes you actually want. After all, does it really matter

how you get there, as long as you end up where you want to be?

I hope you enjoy your week. Remember, the world doesn’t change. You do.