4 Benefits of Planning Well

My back hurt for 6 days straight. That’s not true. It hurt for more like 10 days. Shoveling snow rarely happens in the south. We recently relocated to the Chicago area. We’ve now learned, not only how difficult shoveling snow is, but the value of preparation. Let me explain.   A friend warned me to never let snow sit for more than 12 hours. I thought, “it won’t be a problem if I wait and do it tomorrow since it is supposed to snow more today.” Bad move on my part. Needless to say: I suffered while shoveling snow and a nice layer of ice off of our driveway.

 

Take a look at these 5 lessons I learned about the value of planning ahead.

1 – Planning takes less time. With our driveway, I would have spent much less time had I planned better. My failure to plan resulted in much more time spent shoveling the snow and ice. If I had listened to someone else my time would have been cut in half and my back wouldn’t have hurt near as bad.

2 – Planning is easier. A failure to plan results in a failure to enjoy things. (usually) We convince ourselves that we can do it our way or that others have overstated the need to plan. When we plan things, they usually flow better and we reduce the pain of the process. In the case of shoveling snow, I multiplied my work by 3 because of my unwillingness to plan.

A failure to plan results in a failure to enjoy things. Click To Tweet

3 – Planning takes less work. With the snow example, if I would have planned my previous day better, I would have reduced the work for myself and, unfortunately, others. While shoveling the snow, I ran out of time to accomplish all that I had intended. Rather than completing the project I had to rely on the help of others to get it done. Because of the difficulty of the project, I also stopped early due to the pain in my lower back.

4 – Planning is better for others. In this situation, my failure to plan meant more work for those around me. If I would have planned, I and others would have worked less. Identify a project you have recently delayed? Consider the advice someone gave you in the last week. Now, take one project and plan it out well. Then note the effect it has on you and those around you. Now repeat.