You Don’t Plan Enough:
The Killer Importance of a Detailed Action List

It’s true. You don’t plan enough, and neither do I. Your most important goals need more detail to move forward, if they are ever to be completed.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

Six months ago I was in the beginning stages of creating the Table of Contents for my new book. As a super Type A, detail-focused guy, I always start every big project by doing anything and everything except the hard work itself.

As it turns out, this tendency of mine is actually an asset, but only if I stretch it to its full capacity. Otherwise, I’m left with a series of procrastination techniques that never amount to anything.

The Problem with Winging It

Big projects are too complex to be left to chance. The tendency for most of us is to make a short list (or no list at all) and then just dive in head first.

The problem with this strategy is that we are assuming that the answers will just fall into place. We assume that by winging it we can work on-the-fly, solve problems as they pop up, and make progress without a formal plan in place.

This is a great strategy for small, familiar projects or for highly experienced people working in their strength zone who don’t mind the inevitable headaches that are certainly coming their way.

When you walk into a new project without a plan (or with only scraps of ideas thrown together on a napkin) you wind up with more problems than solutions and more stress than success.

What Hyper-Planning Can Do For You

It’s time to embrace your inner Type A. Think of yourself as a “hyper-planner” and let’s see where this takes us.

• If the average person makes a list of 5 tasks for a project, the hyper-planner will have a list of 50.
• If the average person begins writing the first chapter of their book on day 1, the hyper-planner won’t write a single word for a week.
• If the average person writes a new task as “Work on my book today,” the hyper-planner will instead use, “Outline paragraph 1 of the Introduction with three specific content ideas.”

It Just Feels Wrong

Hyper-planning is the simple act of spending what feels like too much time in the “pre-work” stage and not enough in the “doing” stage. It’s counterintuitive for high-achievers who just want to get their hands dirty now.

Instead, the better solution is to think through the process. Outline every step you can predetermine and brainstorm what obstacles are coming your way.

What you will notice is that clarity comes rushing in and stress begins to dissipate. The more you plan the less you fear and the faster you will eventually begin to move.

This is especially important on a daily task list that is flooded with vague generalities and tasks that should be labeled as projects because they are way too big for an individual to tackle in a single sitting.

You Know Exactly Where You Are

During my recent sabbatical I was working on as many as 4 projects at the same time. The only reason I was able to do this without losing my mind was that I had detailed action lists for each active project.

At any given moment I knew exactly where I was in the process, what my next action would be, and when those next actions were scheduled on my calendar.

I would spend a few minutes at the end of each day revisiting my day’s work, re-shaping the lists as needed, and scheduling my next actions for the next appropriate day on my calendar.

In only a few minutes a day you can easily manage complex challenges if you move the planning from your brain to a reliable system outside of your physical memory bank. Write it down, spell out every detail, and reorganize the data as you move forward.

How Much More Planning Could You Do?

Take a hard look at your current, most important project and ask yourself a few key questions.

1. Are the tasks in this project spelled out with as much detail as possible?
2. Are any of these tasks too big for a single individual to accomplish in one sitting? And should those applicable tasks be converted to projects on their own?
3. When you read through the list of next actions, do you see a story being played out that makes sense? In other words, are the tasks listed in the most logical order and are you missing any steps?
4. Have you scheduled your next actions on your calendar at the most appropriate times?
5. Have you scheduled a review period at the end of each day, and especially at the end of each week, to review your progress and update your detailed action lists?

Plan Until You Know You Are Wasting Time

It’s a magical experience when you begin to hyper-plan effectively. You move from a state of confusion to one of clarity. You see the story of the project being played out right in front of you. And, you begin to accurately estimate just how much work the project will be.

However, there is such a thing as over-planning. You can spend too much time thinking about the work you will eventually do without ever actually getting started on step #1.

If you find yourself repeating the planning process, reviewing the steps over and over, and finding excuses to avoid taking tangible action, then it’s time to move.

If you feel like you are wasting time, you are. There’s no objective or predetermined amount of time to spend planning. It’s up to you to determine when the time is right, but it will be obvious.

I always know when I’m wasting time planning because I feel it in my gut. I know when I’ve checked, re-checked, and optimized my action lists, and you will know too.

When that time arrives, the real magic can begin.

Next Week

On the blog next week I will be discussing the effectiveness of choosing the hard task before the easy one, as well as a strategy for putting this idea into action without too much pain.