Your plans may change along the way, but you know where to go because you know what you want to happen. Let us talk about why planning is important to reach goals stress-free!
The reason why planning is important is obvious: You can reach your goals stress-free because you know where to go and how to get there.
I believe in spontaneity, but I also like making plans. I keep making plans because I know how they can make everything run smoothly.
I am the only person who manages all of my projects. I need to have a system in place to not be overwhelmed by unexpected things.
If you have projects or are a project manager by profession, here is why planning is important when reaching goals:
- You know your goals, so you will not get lost.
- Less time for thinking about what to do in between tasks.
- You prioritize the right things.
- You don’t waste resources because of fewer trials and errors.
Let’s begin.
Why Planning Is Important to Reach Goals Stress-Free
Many people don’t see the importance of planning because plans change, so they think it is a waste of time. No one can predict the future anyway.
But the main goal of planning is for you to be aware of where you want to go. Your goals, which rarely change. The way to go there is what changes.
I have plans, and they give me direction. Even though my plans will change, I know where to go because I know what I want to happen.
Quite possibly, I will need to make some changes to my plans because what happened is not what I imagined. You have changed plans for the same reason.
I have several projects, and I often change my plans for them.
A Lover in Disguise was initially a blog for unrequited lovers, but I realized unrequited love is a narrow niche. I would have a few topics to talk about.
PsychCentral says unrequited love is liking someone who doesn’t feel the same way. Most likely, blog topics would be signs of unrequited love, how to deal with the pain, and how to deal with those feelings.
A Writer in Disguise was a blog for non-native English speakers, and it still is. But there was a time when it became an eBook hub. I also had paused for a while.
I had A Poetic Disguise, but I couldn’t think of a good use for that. I had an Etsy shop, but I closed it after a few months because the ROI wasn’t worth it.
What I shared is just the tip of the iceberg.
If I include how many times I redesigned my websites, and how many times I bought domain names and let them expire without building the websites — GOSH, I wasted lots of money and brain cells!
But that is fine. I had projects that failed or bored me, but I learned from those situations. I knew what I wanted, how to do some things, etc.
Even though your plans will not always take you to your desired destination, you will learn along the way. You can change those plans based on the new knowledge.
Let us now talk about why planning is important!
1. You know your goals, so you will not get lost.
If you move without knowing what you want to achieve, you will run around in circles. Think of driving. When you start your car, there is a reason.
If you start your car without a reason, you are wasting gasoline. Gasoline is the source of energy, so you are wasting energy to put it simply.
One you have used up you energy, you will be exhausted. WebMD shares ways to combat fatigue and get your energy back.
That is the same in real life. The reason why planning is important is to more effectively use your resources. You can get to the destination quickly.
That is one reason why planning is important.
2. Less time for thinking about what to do in between tasks.
Another reason why planning is important is that there is less time for thinking about what to do in between tasks. No interruptions!
You do all the thinking before you begin, so you can focus on the task at hand.
This will allow you to produce outputs that are of high quality and can contribute to your success. Also, no interruptions = more productive!
3. You prioritize the right things.
Are you busy or productive? They say that the difference between being busy and being productive is what is being done.
Apparently, productive people can accomplish many tasks in less time and with less stress because they know how to prioritize properly.
They don’t waste time and energy on tasks that are not needed now or will not make any huge difference in the grand scheme of things.
If you don’t know how to prioritize, wikiHow has a guide on that.
People with prioritization skills are planners.
They go through all the tasks that need to be done to reach the ultimate goal, and then sort them based on their impact.
Something as small as changing the navigation menu on a website has a huge impact. Bad navigation hurts user experience.
So, they may prioritize that over adding more products. If the poor navigation is not resolved quickly, customers will not know how to go to the products page.
4. You don’t waste resources because of fewer trials and errors.
Let us go back to the car example.
If you don’t plan your route, these could happen: You will double-check with the map whether you are going in the right direction, or you will drive on a particular road many times before you realize it.
Good thing, online maps today speak and tell you what to do.
But in real life, unless you have a coach or a friend who has been in a similar situation to yours, you will navigate that unknown road alone.
According to Psychology Today, new situations make us uncomfortable because we don’t know how to navigate them. They share strategies to navigative any situation successfully.
Without planning, you would fail many times because you would be trying out many things to see what would work. You rely on trial and error.
If you don’t want to waste so much time, search for people who have done what you want to do, and learn from their experiences. What did work for them?
What has worked for others might not work for you, but you might see patterns.
For example, if 8 out of 10 people got the same result by doing the same action, then maybe you could get the same result if you did what they did.
Last Words
The reason why planning is important is that it gives us a clear sense of direction. We can outline the steps needed to achieve them, so we don’t waste efforts.
If you are reluctant to plan your day, week, and month because, well, it will change anyway! Yes, plans will change, but you make progress if you know what to do!
If you are overwhelmed with tasks, you would rather not do anything. You are consumed by the feeling of overwhelm. You will be lazy!
Now you know why planning is important!
If you enjoyed reading why planning is important to reach goals stress-free, here is a video of me talking about how many times I changed plans before I got here:
