The paradox of too much planning

Day 234 / 366

If you are like me, there is nothing better for you than making a nice plan. I get so much joy after writing down the pros and cons, making timetables, and figuring out strategies as to how I am going to achieve a goal of mine. But I also find that a lot of the time, once I am done working out a plan I never get to actually executing them.

I have seen a lot of this in offices as well. People spend a lot of time in meetings coming up with different plans and action items. At the end of those meetings, everyone walks away happy. And then they soon forget about actually doing the work required to put the plan in action.

I think there are two things that we get wrong here. Firstly, we put too much effort into planning. So much so that we convince ourselves that just by doing the planning, we have made some significant progress. Then we pat ourselves on the back for that progress and move on. I know that beginning is half done, but in real life, you do not get points for doing things just half.

The second mistake is talking about your plans. We are happy after making the plan, but we get an additional dopamine boost after sharing our plans with others. We feel a sense of accomplishment when people praise us for making the plan, and for taking control of our lives. And when we get to the actual work, we realise that it is actually tough and not that much fun, so we give up and soon move on to the next plan that would make us happy.

At the end of the day, a well-executed ok plan is far better than a great plan that never gets worked on. So stop with the planning and start doing.