The Importance of Planning

Here I am, a week and a half before school starts. I'm looking at what I wanted and needed to get done over my summer vacation, and exactly one word comes to mind.

FUCK.

I'm beyond behind on all this stuff. Why? Because I didn't plan. Sure, I had a nice little list where I could check off everything I accomplished, but that list kept growing, usually faster than I could knock things off. Now I'm finding myself stressed as the countdown timer to when I'm back in school (and all my free time goes out the window) quickly reaches Zero Hour.

A million and three things to do, and not nearly enough time to do them. But it's not too late. A re-evaluation of my goals, and a tight work schedule and I could get at least a good amount of stuff done. Carefully keeping on track, and not letting myself get distracted with arguments with idiots spouting the merits of pirating, or reading up on the vast amounts of amusing material on the internet is an important step.

But planning is a fickle thing. Don't plan enough, and you risk end up not accomplishing what you need to do. But, if you plan your time too tightly, you can cause a great deal of stress when things don't go according to plan. Something takes longer than planned, an unexpected errand comes up. Even fun can become stressful as you worry if the impromptu movie with the family is going to royally screw you.

It's a matter of finding balance. What can you reasonably accomplish in a day? What can you allot a little extra time to to create a buffer if something goes awry?

It's a fine line, and I know very few who have been able to master this skill. But, if you can, things will fall into place a lot more quickly and easily, reducing stress and giving you the life you want to live.