To plan, or not to plan: that is the question?

Jim Roberts
Jul 22, 2017 · 4 min read

A friend of mine is dating at the moment. He got asked by his potential girlfriend “So what are your plans for the next few weeks”. His response “To be honest, I don’t even know what I’m having for dinner, tonight”.

Some people love to plan. Some prefer to ‘go with the flow’. For those who have taken a personality test — the final component is Judging (J) or Perceiving (P). “This determines how we approach planning and how we handle available options.”

I (choose) to fall on the ‘P’ side. My girlfriend more on the ‘J’ side. The differences can be fascinating. Especially when it comes to the design of our weekends.

I would love to be more organised, clean the dishes right away and plan perfectly. I have tried. Failed. Got extremely worked up in the process. I’m left feeling, maybe I should just embrace my inability to plan.

Should I be giving up so soon?

In Favour of Planning

We should bring our will into harmony with whatever happens, so that nothing happens against our will and nothing that we wish for fails to happen.” — Epictetus, “Discourses”

  1. Conventional wisdom — A failure to plan, is planning to fail. Big hitters in the personal development world state the virtues of planning. The second habit in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is: “Begin with the end in mind”. Or as Richard Cushing puts it “Always plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark”.
  2. You can make more of your time — I wish I could plan all my meals, exercise and bed times. I would be a much healthier human.
  3. It helps other people plan their time — by scheduling meet ups and adding structure to social events, you can ensure happiness for the greatest number. Families love a weekend in the diary. Friends love a night out to look forward to. If you can plan these, you can help others plan theirs.
  4. Save money — By planning things like holidays, birthday presents and grocery shopping you can definitely save money. You may get lucky with last minute discounts but invariably you’ll pay more. I have access to a health scheme through work. I can get refunds for treatments (Health screening, Dental, Osteophathy etc.) Do I use them? Nah. I’m too busy on the Sky Sports app, looking at who Liverpool are trying to sign!
  5. Doing well in your profession — I’ve heard a lot of people say they’re chilled at home, super organised at work. The office rewards a plan. It offers some the opportunity to colour code, diarise and plan to their hearts’ content. A proverbial planners paradise. I have tried this…
When I try to plan! (Meme nicked from the internet)

In Favour of an ‘Un-planned Existence’

“We should take wandering outdoor walks, so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing.” — Seneca, “On Tranquility of Mind”

  1. We are human beings not human doings — I came across this whilst reading Ryan Holiday’s “Ego Is The Enemy”. It hit me hard. How many days do we spend on a loop, commuting/working/eating, without taking time to enjoy the world around us? I don’t want to be a hippy but I would sometimes like to spend a bit more time, just enjoying the day.
  2. Less stress — My girlfriend commented that she feels she learnt to be a planner because she is scared of the idea of “double booking myself and letting down people I love”. I would rather not lug that stress around. I know the angst that comes with trying to make an appointment, when your stuck in rush hour traffic. Or forcing yourself out of bed early on a weekend because you promised to [Insert chore here]. My solution, plan less things!
  3. Spontaneous successes — The non-planners amongst us know what it’s like to leave an essay or task right till the last minute. Also knowing that it will probably turn out better than if they’d spent weeks carefully curating it. I love football for this reason. I don’t have time to think about how it’s all going. You can set up your 4–4–2 and offside trap all you want. The result will come down to which team performs better on the day.
  4. lastminute.com — A whole website, built on doing things last minute. If that’s not vindication, I don’t know what is.
  5. Philosophy — If you want to get philosophical about it, all we have is now. The past is the past. The future is the future. Planning + Worry = Less enjoyment of now.
‘We are all simply waves in the ocean of life’ — photo courtesy of https://www.hawaiiansouthshore.com/?target=blog

As they say, you could get busy living or get busy dying. I think this means you can choose. To plan or not to plan. Whichever suits you best.

Jim

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Jim Roberts

Written by

Bristol-born storyteller. Into ideas, not prescriptions.

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