How to Stop Over-Planning and Start Doing!

how to stop over planning and start doing

 

Planning can be extremely beneficial to help you organize and manage every aspect of your life when done well. It can help you reduce stress, boost your productivity, help you declutter, and can help you to feel accomplished.

Overall, it can make you feel pretty positive about life and make you feel like you can take on the world. 

While planning can be beneficial, there is a fine line between planning well and over-planning.

Over-planning can be a pretty sneaky source of procrastination.

Fear can take over when you plan out your life, agenda, goals, or even simple tasks. You may actually scare yourself into starting to execute your plans.

So, you start to keep planning and planning, hoping that you will eventually feel ready to start, and really you just keep overthinking and putting things off.

 

How to Stop Over-Planning and Start Doing!

 

How Do You Know When You’re an Over Planner? 

Over planners may not be as self-aware as they had hoped. So how do you know if you’re overplanning your goals?

Here are some classic signs you may just be the over-planner you didn’t know you were.

 

You’ve done lots of planning and have very little to show for it. 

 

All the planning in the world isn’t going to achieve your goals unless you get moving! I can plan all day and all night and hang out in the planning stage, but those messes and dreams are just going to sit there. 

 

You think too much about all the possible scenarios. 

You spend too much time planning because there are far too many possibilities for how your goal or plan can take shape. This is why you sit so much in the planning stage. 

 

Some things that you plan you end up abandoning. 

If there have been a lot of projects in your past where even the slightest thing has gone wrong, this is an excellent sign that you are an over-planner. 

 

You might be a slight perfectionist. 

A perfectionist has the mindset that all or nothing mentality accepts nothing less than achieving the highest excellence.

If this is you, you might be over-critical of yourself and beat yourself over the slightest thing that goes wrong or doesn’t go as planned? Not only that, on top of all this beating yourself up, you’re terrified of what people think. Perfectionism can lead to a lot of fear and really add to that procrastination factor.

 

 

How to Stop Over Planning and Start Doing 

 

Planning can be a great motivator, but you spend most of your time making plans and sabotaging your productivity.

No matter the amount of planning you do, there will always be curveballs and things you may not have planned for.

It’s time to stop planning and start to get things done. Here are tips to help you accomplish your goals and get out of the planning phase.  

 

1. Set Time Limits on Your Planning Time 

 

The number one thing you can do for yourself when you over plan is to set a daily limit for the amount of time you actually spend planning.

Keep your planning at a high level and plan a specific day of the week for your planning day.

This will help you keep focused during you and efficiently and allow you to plan out your goals effectively.

 

2. Set a Date and Get Moving

 

You have your primary goals set. It could be decluttering your life, starting a business, organizing that paperwork.

It doesn’t matter the size of the goal; they are important to you. Overthinking can lead to many fears that prevent you from just starting.

One tactic is to set a date for you to put your plan into motion. That helps you mentally prepare for your official start date. Pick a date on your calendar, write it down, circle it, and get ready to get moving.

 

3. Once You Start, Keep Moving

 

Once you start your goal, you’ve got to keep going. Let’s face it, things aren’t going to always go as planned.

But now that you’ve started, don’t let a little wrench in gear throw off your momentum.

Take a big deep breath, take a step back, take the pulse of how you’re regularly doing, and take a look at how to navigate and move forward past any unplanned events. These things are manageable, and you can make it through! 

 

4. Make Sure Your Goals are Broken Up into Small Manageable Tasks

 

Accomplishing anything or checking things off your list can be an incredible motivator. When you just set one big goal, that can be a significant source of your fears. It can be so incredibly overwhelming.

When you break down your objective into smaller manageable tasks, you can hit those goals, feel great about accomplishing something, and feel motivated to keep on moving.

 

5. It’s okay if things don’t go according to plan. 

 

And that’s okay. This is probably one of the most important tips because perfectionism and the fear of anything going wrong are at the root of overplanning.

Things are going to go wrong sometimes, and that’s okay! How you handle it Is what really matters.

Learn to be okay with the things that go awry, take that a step further, and learn how to pivot.

 

Overall, there are many ways you can stop overplanning and start doing to get closer to reaching your goals and checking things off your list.

It’s not easy at first. It takes time and convincing to get you to start moving, and that’s okay.

You’re allowed to give yourself a little grace. With determination and your goals in mind, and once you let go of those fears and inactions, you’re going to achieve those big things on your to-do list.  

I can help you with your planning and organization! Head on over to my YouTube here or browse my website to help plan and organize and achieve those goals. 

Read More About How to Get Things Done:

 

How to Stop Procrastinating!

10 Things To Do at Night for a Productive Morning

What you should stop doing?

20 Things That Waste Your Time

 

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2 Comments

  1. OK, time to move on the project of replacing my tub-shower with a shower. You inspired me to stop overthinking it and doing it.

  2. Great article. It’s like you know me.

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