Plan Less, Do More

Why do I do that? Is it to procrastinate? Or do I really not know what I need to do next? 

For example, one of my goals is to run a 5K in under 30 minutes. I know I am going to start a specific running program July 1st. However, one of my three items to move this goal forward was to research ways to get faster for a 5K. It seems like a reasonable to do item, but then I look at my other goals and get concerned. 

Another example is my goal to get through the teen years with my kids with the least amount of drama and friction. We are still a few years away but I would love to start setting the groundwork for good relationships with them so that they feel they can come to me with any issues and not ever be concerned about mom’s reaction. My action items for this goal, again, include reading and researching. I have a few books I want to read and I want to do research on ideas to connect with kids. Again with the researching and planning tasks instead of the doing. 

For more simple goals, such as the idea that I want a hot tub, I still do the same thing. You’d think buying a hot tub would be simple goal to achieve. Get the slab done, buy a hot tub, have it installed, fill it up, get in.  However, even that simple actionable goal has more research for me to do before I even start taking action. I need to figure out what features I want in a hot tub, I need to look at reviews and see what others have found are the best, and I need to research where to go look at them. More procrastinating, more “reading” instead of doing a task, more delayed time on my goals. 

Is this just me? What is it about me that makes me want to research and plan instead of ever do anything? 

First, I know that I hate making decisions. Well, let me rephrase that. I hate making the WRONG decisions, and in my mind, the only way to avoid making the wrong decision is to not make a decision at all. This really makes no sense, because if I don’t make a decision then I’m not doing anything, which is really deciding to not go after what I want.  Not going after what I want will always be the WRONG decision, no matter what. 

Also, I know I love to read and plan. Those things are fun to me and “easy”.  I’d way rather sit and make plans and create spreadsheets and to do items around cleaning my house or decluttering every corner (which is something I want to do) than actually doing the work to clean or declutter. Of course this is an obvious example because who really wants to clean?  

However it works the same with other things too that are more fun and less chores. I’ve wanted to learn to play the piano since I was a kid. I have tried on and off, and even took a class in college (until I learned I had to participate in recitals).  I have never succeeded (maybe that’s a different conversation for another time – when is it time to give up on goals you’ve had forever and make no progress on?) Instead, I get books, research how to learn piano online, look up local teachers and classes. Again, spending all my time planning and preparing. There was one instructional book from the library I started working through but I couldn’t seem to find time and went back into planning mode. Why?? On a goal that I’ve dreamed about since I was small? 

Now that I really know this about myself, I’m trying not to ignore it and to really pay attention to when I’m planning instead of doing. I’m trying to brainstorm a few ideas for what I can do to stop myself from over planning (and yes, I’m aware that this exercise is even more planning) 

First, this week I’m going to try to keep all my planning on Sunday. When I have time to spare to work on my goals during the week, instead of sitting down with my planning sheets, I’m going to go straight to my to do list. 

Also, since my to do list is a little overwhelming right now, I am going to create a separate query in Toodledo (the app I use for my to do list) and it will only contain the goal-related tasks I want to complete that week. This will help me from being distracted by all the other tasks I have, which sadly do contain some tasks just for planning. 

One final strategy I found from reading this blog post (aptly named “When Planning is More Fun Than Doing”) was to make the plan one time and then stick to it. That’s is a big issue as I tend to make plan but never really consider the plan “complete” and I’m always ready (and excited) to go back and revise. I have had a “home cleaning” plan in place for quite some time, but I still have an item on my to do list to “Finish home cleaning plan”. From the blog post tips, I should quit “re-planning”, stick to what I have, and execute. I am going to try that this week and get rid of all my “make a plan” tasks. 

Let’s hope this amount of preparation for the week is all I need and that I can actually start to take action. I’d love to hear from you, do you have any issues with planning too much and never taking action? Do you use planning as a way to procrastinate?  Have you had any success with getting out of the planning mode and into action mode? Please let me know in the comments below!