There’s a trap that many people fall into. The trap of planning too much, which eventually leads to doing nothing to very little. If your to-do list is never clear, this post is for you.
Feeling of falling behind kills your progress
Trying to do too much often leads to doing less. The situation I’m talking about looks like this:
The situation we want looks like this:
What is the best way to plan?
Planning for realistic progress isn't about one giant leap over an abyss, it's about building a strong bridge, brick by brick.
First thing first, ask yourself - what you want to achieve with this plan, what’s the end result?
Make your goals:
Specific: Vague goals like "get healthy" or "be more productive" lack the clarity, therefore you don’t really know what actions to take. Instead, break down your aspirations into smaller, actionable steps. For example: "go for a 30-minute walk three times a week - Monday, Thursday, Saturday." or "avoid checking social media 2 hours after waking up." are specific and achievable. It’s good to add specific time to your plan and declare that you will do that.
Prioritize: Not all tasks are created equal. Identify the high-impact activities that move you closer to your goals and focus on them first. You know, 80/20 rule.
Slow progress is still progress
And it’s often the only real progress. You might have heard the saying: "Nothing changes from day to day, but everything is different when I look back." Sad, isn't it? But, it works for good things, too.
Small wins add up to significant achievements. I like how the book better “Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson illustrates this concept. The book Is like Atomic Habit’s Dad.
Things take time, and that’s ok. Take a step back to go 2 steps further.
Great post man (as always)! So many people try to achieve "balance" by doing every possible micro task. But instead, they make progress in none and feel bad when they look back on their past selves and feel they have made no progress.
Instead it's better to focus on the few hard tasks, and make insane progress in a few areas of life instead of trying for all of them.
Hey Beniamin, this is a great post! I used to be the champion of planning too much or setting my expectations too high to the point where I always felt like I didn’t get everything done. I’ve learned to scaled that back more overtime and just focus on the simpler things that have a potential to have bigger impacts or returns in the future like my writing habit. I also learned that celebrating small wins also helps when you want to feel like you’re making progress. Thank you so much for posting this! Your newsletter is awesome by the way! Just subscribed! :)