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#3 Cupid's Planning: Do Planners Allow For A Higher Tolerance of Failure?

2/20/2017

10 Comments

 
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Welcome to the third post in the Createyou86 Cupid's Planning Blog Series.  If you have been in the planning community for any amount of time you have probably seen or heard the quote by Benjamin Franklin "Failing to plan is planning to fail."  This quote either inspires you, or scares you half to death.  I love this quote, and my sister even had it on a big chalkboard in her kitchen to inspire her step children.  However, i feel like there is a side to this quote that we as planners just don't talk about.  Are we planning to fail? And does planning allow for a higher tolerance of failure?  
I get it....you love your planner, and you have the perfect system.  You might be a list maker, or a bullet journaler, or even a Filofax user, but do those lists REALLY get finished?  There are some of us who use the system of choosing the three most important tasks for the day, and focusing mainly on those tasks only to push our other tasks aside until we have time.  There is also a group of planners known as bullet journalers who base their entire system on things they fail to finish.  These unfinished tasks are "migrated" to the next day, only to be put on another list day after day until they are completed.  
Do i feel like planners set themselves up for a higher tolerance of failure?  Yes, and I believe that lists are the problem.  I have never been a huge list maker mainly because i like to complete things that i have set out for myself daily.  I also have a full-time job, and go to school so this makes completing anything between 7:45 am, and 4:45-5:00 pm (15 minutes for traffic while driving home) literally impossible.  Add to the diminishing time that i have throughout the day that i am doing school work at least three nights a week for several hours (I have spent literally 8 hours on a Saturday doing schoolwork), spending time with my fiance, writing blog posts, creating social media posts, and possibly cooking dinner.  I simply don't have time for lists that need to be migrated from day to day so i choose one or two main goals for the week (normally blog posts) which i sometimes do not even complete, and you know what?  I am okay with that.  Am i failing at my blog posts sometimes?  Yes, do i fail at other weekly goals, or even daily goals that i might plan?  Yes, and i believe that being a planner allows for that acceptance.  Our planners are a place where we can be honest with ourselves, and no one else has to see our failures.  Is a blog post super important?  No, but when you make a list for yourself your goal is normally to see that it gets done.  Here are a few things that i suggest so that you as a planner accept less failure.
  1. Stop creating lists that are daunting.  You don't need to create lists that are three pages long.  Chances are you will not finish EVERYTHING on your list, and you will give into that feeling of accepting failure because you can just "migrate" it to the next day.
  2. Pre-plan, and break your projects into smaller pieces which are more attainable.
  3. Do not plan more that 3 goals in a day (create a top three, and if you finish those projects, awesome, if not try not to move on, or create a new list until they have been completed). 
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Let me know in the comments below ARE YOU GUILTY OF PLANNING TO FAIL?
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10 Comments
Erika Ravnsborg link
2/22/2017 10:43:27 pm

Yeah planning things that you can't control like the perfect relationship is like trying to lift the great wall of China. It's not going to happen.

Reply
Emily Leonard
2/22/2017 10:49:16 pm

Erika,
Thanks for stopping by. I completely agree. Unfortunately, a lot of planners do this!

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Reeni @ Simply Reeni link
2/23/2017 12:58:52 pm

I love this! I never thought of it like this before, but it is so true :) I love the idea of just focusing on 3 goals for your day. It makes it easier to focus and get those done. One of my favorite sayings is, "How to eat an elephant? One bite at a time!" You look back at your month or year and realize that doing those 3 things consistently provides amazing results!! Thanks for sharing :)

Reply
Emily Leonard
2/23/2017 01:04:36 pm

Reeni,
Thanks for stopping by. I couldn't agree more, and I am so glad that you were able to connect with this post!

Reply
Janice Wald link
2/26/2017 10:35:27 am

Hi,
You and I are like-minded. I published a similar post which explained the to-do list sets us up for failure. When we can't accomplish everything on it, we feel like failures.
Janice

Reply
Emily Leonard
2/26/2017 11:04:06 am

Janice,
Thanks for stopping by. I am glad you were able to connect with this post, and it is always nice to know that others feel the same way about planning.

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JoJo Tabares link
2/28/2017 08:21:37 am

I never liked planners. Too much work. I use a to daily to do list that has all the things I need and some of the things I want to get done that day. I put a dot next to the ones I need to get done and cross off what I did. Then I transfer the wants that didn't get done on to the next day. Works for me.

Reply
Emily Leonard
2/28/2017 12:23:10 pm

Jojo,
Thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, migrating lists still keeps that failure cycle going. I am glad that you have found a system that works great for you though!

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shan walker link
2/28/2017 10:22:28 pm

I love planners but get burned out easily so it has to stay simple!

Reply
Emily Leonard
2/28/2017 10:28:38 pm

Shan,
Thanks for stopping by. I love planning, and sometimes get burnt out as well, but I am glad that you keep it simple. I do as well.

Reply



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