Don’t Overthink, Don’t Procrastinate, Just Do It.

Fair warning: This may shock some of my regular readers.

Sometimes the most efficient path to productivity and organizational effectiveness is to not plan at all. I realize that goes counter to everything I usually propose for maximum productivity and success, but there are times when the planning gets in the way of the doing. *We are talking about excessive planning here. In those situations it is just not good business practice and certainly not a good time management strategy.

There are or can be some downsides to planning everything:

Planning takes time – If the planning takes more time than the actual work, then it is possibly not a wise idea. Some actions are so crucial that this is justified, but those are usually rare.

Planning can be an excuse for procrastination – Are you taking time to plan so that you can avoid having to actually take action? Watch out for procrastination disguised as being prudent. Make sure you are not spinning your wheels in circles.

Planning can be disproportionate – Make sure that the level and detail of your planning is proportionate to the complexity and importance of the project. Don’t take 5 hours of team meetings to prepare for a 30 minute phone pitch unless it’s a moneymaker deal. You get the idea.

If you are a chronic planner, you may be exceptionally organized and successful or you may just be wasting your time. Planning is absolutely critical to living your most productive and organized life, but anything taken to extreme is at worst an addiction and at best an inefficient use of your time, energy and resources. The key to effective use of planning to maximize your personal and professional productivity and organization is to plan in a realistic, proportionate and effective way using the minimum amount of time and resources possible. Learn to be a lean, planning machine.

To read more, check out my other Golden Rules of Productivity.

Related articles

• Why We Procrastinate (psychologytoday.com)
• How to Overcome Procrastination at Work (personal-work-habits.suite101.com)
• Personality stands out in predicting procrastination (ctv.ca)
• Preventing Procrastination Part Three: Course Correction for All Seasons (psychologytoday.com)