Why Plan?

My husband often thinks I stress myself out by overplanning and sometimes he is right.  But, for me, planning often relieves the stress for a number of reasons.

1. Establish priorities

Being able to think ahead makes me consider what is actually important to me.  Whether it be for a trip or an event, it helps me make decisions and keep focused.  For a wedding, it might be really important to you to have your over budget dream wedding, but know that will mean you might be eating chicken instead of filet mignon.  Think of it kind of like your goal, where sometimes that means giving up one thing to make room for another.

Let’s take something super simple like a date as an example.  If planning a date night, it’s good to consider what type of date you want to have.  Is it an over-the-top romantic rooftop dinner? Or a down and dirty paintball competition? Perhaps you’ll opt for double date with close friends?  Whatever it is, it is first important to figure out your priorities because it will dictate every other decision that comes along.

2. Research

Continuing with our date example, say I have decided I want to find an amazing hole in the wall Thai restaurant (my husband’s favorite).  Establishing that as a priority first helps dictate where I should focus my time and attention in research.  With a million restaurants in the city, I will limit my search to Thai restaurants within 30 minutes.

This can translate for bigger plans for trips or weddings and save you a lot of time researching everything under the sun.

3. Visualize

Being able to visualize whatever I am planning helps me get excited for it.  Ever plan a trip and constantly think about the idea of sitting on the beach with a cocktail and a good book in hand?  That’s the stuff I live for.

For our date example, I might visualize what I’m going to wear or how we are going to get to the restaurant.  I think through the process of how the night will flow beginning to end.  It gets me excited for the night but it also helps me see what might not go according to plan.

4. Plan for what might go wrong

This will inevitably happen in life in all aspects of it.  However, when you are a planner like me, you are already equipped with Plans A, B, C, and  all the way to Z.

On date night, the baby sitter might get sick.  Or your Uber could be running late.  Or it rains, which ruins the chance of you sitting at the restaurant’s nice outdoor patio.  These things happen, but it comes down to how you respond to it.  If you have already planned ahead, you might be disappointed by these things, but it isn’t going to shake you because you already have a back-up plan in mind.  Keep in mind your priorities though when creating your back-up plans though so you don’t end up sacrificing the things that are really important to you.

5. Maximize time

If there is one thing I hate more than anything it is being late.  So, visualizing everything and planning for what might go wrong helps me anticipate how the day might flow.  It helps me anticipate where slow-downs might happen or what is a realistic timeline.  When you have a general timeline it helps you maximize your time making sure you don’t waste any time of the day.  This is especially important when planning big events like a wedding.

On the smaller scale for date night, I think through what time I need to start prepping dinner for the kids, when can I fit in doing my hair/make-up, what time we need to leave in order to make our reservation, etc.  To people who hate planning, that might sound overwhelming, but for me thinking through all the steps makes sure that I am leaving myself adequate time so I don’t feel stressed trying to run out the door last minute.

6. Relax

With ample planning, it means you get to relax day of!  Things going wrong? No problem! You have a plan for that.  You know you have created a day or event that you can look forward to and now it is just time to enjoy it.

For me, planning simply gives me joy.  I get to create fun memories for myself, friends, and my family.  Yes, it might be stressful at times, but I know it is all worth it.  When I look back at photos, I remember the memories, not any of the planning that went into it.

I hope this blog can help you create some memories of your own!  Comment below and let me know why you enjoy (or don’t enjoy) planning!