Oh, Plans!
Sometimes, having a plan makes me feel in control and like I can make it through. With the right plan, I can make it through the next few days, the pile of laundry, the home-schooling extravaganza, the month until the next long weekend. I can make it through because having a plan keeps me sane.
Until it doesn't.
Because sometimes, having a plan makes me feel like I am doggedly driving along the whacky side road with all the potholes because I didn't take the ramp to the sleek highway three miles back just so I could stick to the plan.
I like making plans. I dislike getting wrapped up in them.
Making plans helps me examine what I am up against and break it down into small bits. Small bits are a lot less scary than large piles "I-don't-know-what's-in-there-oh-no-this-looks-like-a-lot". Planning helps me divide the forest into the trees and realise that there are no scary monsters there. Just trees.
Beyond that, though, the usefulness of plans is debatable. I don't think that the successful execution of a plan meaningfully correlates with our ability to make plans in the first place. There is just too much random stuff involved once a plan meets the great unknown of "this is life, you don't plan for that, haha".
When reality sets in, all your detailed planning goes out the window and you improvise anyway.
So, why would you plan in the first place and how much should you plan?
Much like "what is the right amount of parmesan to put on your pasta", it depends.
On how you like it. On what you need to calm your nerves. On how much will make you feel stuck.
Planning is a tool that can help you get a grip and feel less afraid. It helps you imagine things and rehearse them in your mind. But it is not the real thing. At some point, you just have to do.
And once you get into doing things, the only saving grace you might have planned for and that you'll be really grateful for is extra time.
You'll always be glad for extra time. Because extra time is the thing that helps you re-evaluate your situation, not freak out, and calmly make your way forward. Heck, extra time even allows you to make a new plan.
So plan as much as you need to convince yourself that you are not climbing a mountain but a series of hills. And then add a lot of time for when things don't go your way. If you arrive early, wonderful. If stuff goes wrong, no biggy, you got time.
Most importantly, though, unclench your fists and hold your plans lightly. Let them go easily. Don't keep driving on the country road if the ramp to the highway is right there.
