Why I Don’t Make Detailed Plans Anymore
You have got a goal. You want to achieve something. What do you do? You make a plan, right? That’s what experts advise us to do: Break the whole project down into baby steps. Write down everything that you have to do in order to achieve your goal. Then follow through.
I did make plans like that many, many times.
For example, I once created document with baby steps for improving my music career – this document easily filled 10 pages (and I used a small font size).
Also, there were many times where I wrote down detailed to do lists for each day or week.
This is what happened to these plans: They never got executed.
Here is why:
Overwhelming
Every time I sat down and looked at a detailed plan that contains a dozen of items, it was like I got paralyzed. It didn’t matter that the big steps were broken down into baby steps – the breaking down made it even worse because it looked like it was even more work. Naturally, procrastination mode had to set in as a self-defense mechanism.
Boring
Also, every time I sat down and looked at detailed plans like this, I got terribly un-excited. How boring if you know exactly what you’re gonna do! This was especially a problem when I made plans that were supposed to last several weeks or months. Sometimes I created plans where I literally broke down everything I had to do every day in order to succeed with my goals. These were the plans the lasted the shortest. I couldn’t even start to become motivated with these kind of plans. Who wants to have a life where everything is already decided? Thank you, dear procrastination, for saving me from this kind of life!
Suboptimal
This is was what I learned over time: You’re plans are not going to be as smart as you thought they were. And even if you tweak your plans: There are probably a gazillion better ways to achieve your goal that you’re not even thinking about right now – but you’re never gonna know when you’re spending all your time following a fixed plan. When you’re interacting with real life and real people, you will get new ideas and inspiration for your goals all the time. Too bad when you’re already too busy to take these chances.
Are your plans turning out to be overwhelming, boring and not as smart as you thought they would be? Maybe planning everything in detail isn’t the right choice for you. I needed years in order to learn this. How long are you going to stick to methods that don’t serve you?
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I am an avid plan follower because it boosts productivity, but I can totally see what you mean. It really is a good thing not to be too specific with it. I find that being exact with ‘what’ I need to do, but leaving the ‘how’ blank, allows me to use fresh creativity but still make the right steps. Also like you say… things do change. This could be disheartening if you have set your heart on a definite plan. There needs to be room for change. Another good post with plenty of food for thought!
Thank you! I guess the number one reason I still make plans (not detailes one, though) is that they keep me focused on what I want to do.
I like to plan things out and use lists. My problem always come that I overestimate how much I can get done and make my list too big.
Once I fall behind on today’s list then tomorrow’s list doesn’t even have a chance of succeeding because I am playing catch up.
When I try to estimate how long the work on task will take I always add about 1/3 of the actual estimated time span.
So if I think something will take 90 minutes to do, I will plan for 2 hours.
You only need to know how much your estimations usually differ from the real world results and adapat your calculations accordingly.
I do something similar for software projects. If I think a task will take me 60 minutes, I assume it will actually take me 120. Hah!
You did not break the plan down far enough. Break it down to 5 minute activities! Just kidding though
I think you go into too many details on the plan. The plan itself, the visual representation of the plan as well as the schedule should not be too detailed. Just enough for it to be useful and not too many details for it to feel like it’s too much work.
Each activity you break things down into should have details, of course. But when you look at the plan those details should be located elsewhere, for when you need them.
I usually keep my to do/execution list for individual projects somewhere else. So I have an overview about what has got to be done when I need it, and on the other hand I don’t get bored or stressed out when I look at my general to do list and feel more free to choose what inspires me.