Ashley Brown 0:00 [Intro]
The act of planning isn't as easy as it may look, it takes know how and intention to plan in a way that works for you. In this episode of the routine and things podcast, I'm sharing with you three planning mistakes we typically fall into. If you struggle with planning this episode is a must listen. Tune in now to learn if you're making these planning mistakes.
Ashley Brown 0:21
Reduce daily stress and keep overwhelm at bay using the routine and things planner, our one of a kind planner merges routines and planning to help you get organized and stay organized. You'll build and incorporate routines into your life little by little, and using the signature routine block planning method, you'll organize your weekly tasks into four routine categories to maintain a strong foundation for your home and your life. The things that typically get lost in the day to day shuffle will now be brought to the forefront every single week, which will help you lessen stress and avoid becoming overwhelmed. To get your very own routine and things planner, be sure to head to routineandthings.com or click the link in the show notes.
Ashley Brown 1:19
Hey, hey, welcome back for another episode of the routine and things podcast. Thank you for joining me today where we're talking about planning mistakes that are often made. Oh, so we've been making these planning mistakes, some of us and if you're tuning in, you're either curious to know if you've been making these mistakes, or maybe you're like, Girl, I know I'm making some mistakes. So just tell me so that I can work on them. Right? I totally get it. And I'm here to share with you I've made all of these planning mistakes, you are not the only one, it takes time to know what really works, especially when life is busy. It's like sometimes we think things are working. They're not working. Or we feel like why is this not working for me, but people keep talking about do it plan and plan and plan but planning doesn't really work for me. The thing that I want you to know is that it's not that planning doesn't work for you, it's more so that you haven't learned what actually works for you. And maybe you consistently are making these mistakes.
Ashley Brown 2:20
And so I want for you to be aware of these so that you no longer make these mistakes, and that you begin to plan in a way that is effective, so that you can follow through so that you can actually be making progress in your life in a way that feels good to you. And that's in alignment with what you want. So let's get into these three planning mistakes. So the first one that I often see is you don't actually have a planning process or system. Maybe you think you do, but it's not a tried and true process or system that you have like your planning is pretty much all over the place. One week you're planning by using a piece of paper and brain dumping the next week you're planning by using an actual planner that you just picked up from Target. The next week you're planning is putting everything in your phone, like you're planning, but your planning isn't consistent.
Ashley Brown 3:13
Every single time you go to plan, you don't have an actual process or system for planning. And the thing about this is this can cause us to avoid the action of planning, this can actually lead to us not planning and staying consistent with planning because every time we're going to do it, it's always different. And so our minds have to adjust to a different thing every single time, which means we're going to exert more energy mental energy planning. And that can cause us to be like, You know what, I don't want to do this no more. So not having a planning process or a system is not benefiting you. And maybe it's just because you haven't found one that really works for you. Maybe you try it and because you feel like it didn't work for you the first time you stopped doing it. But the thing about it is you have to try planning the same way multiple times in order to really see if it fits for you the first time that you use a system, it may not feel that smooth.
Ashley Brown 4:11
You know, like for example, if you pick up a planner, like maybe you're gonna get the routine and things planner, or maybe you already have it. The first time that you sit down and do our process, it may not feel as smooth. Why? Because it's an adjustment. It's something new, you are transitioning to doing something new, your brain has to catch on to it. So the first time may not be as smooth that doesn't mean give up and be like, Oh, this doesn't work for me. No, it may actually work for you if you give your brain enough time to adjust, right so having a planning process and system is crucial when it comes to planning, knowing what time you're sitting down to plan how you actually go about planning that makes the process smoother for you a bit simpler for you so that you actually continue doing it. So this is like the first planning mistake that I see is that you don't have a planning process or planning system.
Ashley Brown 5:02
And if you're listening to this, you know whether you have a system or not like, you know, either you're sitting down and knowing exactly what you're doing when you plan or maybe you sit down to plan and you're doing something different every single time. And one way that you can prevent this or just help this to not be the case, is by having a process or system. And that can be through a planner. There is many planners that have a certain process or system to it, but you want to make sure your planner actually has a has a process or system. Some planners out here don't have that. And for those of us in busy seasons of life with a lot of moving parts our life, we need a we need a system like we need a process, because you're sitting down to a planner with a bunch of grids or just lines isn't helpful. So that's the first planning mistake that I often see.
Ashley Brown 5:49
The second mistake that is usually made when it comes to planning is you're not aware that your planning process or system doesn't work. And this is when I feel like is major because I think we can sometimes think oh, what if I have a plan and process and system like I'm good. But it's like, Wait, is it working for you though, right? Because if you're thinking just because you sit down every Sunday to plan that is that you're good or that it's working, it may not be working, because if you if you find that every time you sit down to plan, you're overwhelmed when you look down at your plan, and you're like, oh my god, I'm so overwhelmed by this, because you have so many things on there, aka you're over planning. And when we over plan, that's not an effective way of planning. Or maybe you get to the end of your week, right?
Ashley Brown 6:41
You planned at the beginning of the week, you get to the end of your week, and you're like wait majority of the time you have not done hardly anything that you put on your plan. That means your planning system is ineffective. Because if you are not somewhat in alignment with what you planned when you sat down on Sunday, and you get to Saturday, and you're like, Wait, I didn't really do hardly anything on this list, your system for planning isn't effective is not working. That doesn't mean and let me say this, it doesn't mean you're not getting things done, you're still getting things done. But you took out time and energy to sit down to plan just to not even be in alignment with that somewhat. It's like wait, how you move naturally is not how you're planning, that means your planning is ineffective. So this is something that I see often as well is that we don't know that we are planning in a way that doesn't work for us.
Ashley Brown 7:35
And so we get so used to planning like, let's say you always buy the same planner every single year, just because you're used to it, it may not even be working for you. You're just used to the planner, you're used to getting the planner every year, you're excited to get the planner every year. And I feel like sometimes we just some of us just get planners because of the excitement of it. And we don't really think Wait, is this really did this work for me last year? Or did I just feel accomplished because I sat down and planned with it every week. But I could hardly follow through with what I put on my plan. Because I'm gonna be very honest with you, some of us will, we want to feel accomplished. And so we'll plan but honestly is just for the feeling of accomplishment. And we then are still wondering why can I not follow through if you struggle with following through on your plans and you consistently plan that is not effective.
Ashley Brown 8:36
That means that your planning process or system is not working. And you have to become aware of this because what is the point of sitting down taking out time taken out valuable energy for it to not be effective for you in the long run, it just doesn't make any sense. So that's another mistake that I see made the last mistake and this one is an easy fix. I personally believe but this is a mistake that I see all the time. And it is you don't prioritize your planning. You're just not prioritizing it. You know planning is helpful you hear it all the time when you've planned in the past it's been helpful for you but you just don't prioritize it. You don't make it a priority is not on your to do list to plan you haven't set a reminder to plan when someone actually what you're doing on Sunday you say I'm just going to church and coming home and making some food. Planinng ain't nowhere in your mind. Planning is nowhere in your head that's all you say. Right? So you're not prioritizing it.
Ashley Brown 9:42
Things that we don't prioritize don't get done. Am I right or am I right? Things we don't prioritize do not get done period. That's it. So if you feel as if you want to manage your life in a more organized fashion planning needs to be involved in that and you have to prioritize it. If you think is going to pop in your head, it's not. I wish it was that easy. That would be just a godsend if to plan just popped in our heads at the time, every single week, but that's not the case, we have to make sure we're putting things in place to remind ourselves to do it. To prioritize it. This is an easy fix. Set a reminder, put your planner within eyesight where you always are going to see it. Don't put it up in a dresser somewhere thinking that you're gonna remember the plan. Put it right there on your dining room table, put it right there in your kitchen, set it right there on their coffee table next to the couch and the side of the couch you always sit on that's what you do.
Ashley Brown 10:40
That's a reminder for you being constantly reminded, set an alarm for the time in the week that you need to plan. Prioritize your planning. These are the three mistakes that are often see made but they're correctable. You can get you a planning system, you can even create your own if you need to. Right you can have and get a planning system go in the planning process. You can think about is your planning system or process currently effective. And then just prioritize your planning. Put it at the forefront of your mind and whatever way you need to. So that is hopefully you enjoyed the episode. If you could do me a huge favor and rate and review the show. I would absolutely love that. Rate and review the show. And until next time, continue to enjoy wherever you are, whatever you're doing, stay happy and I will talk to you soon.
Ashley Brown 11:36 [Outro]
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, take a screenshot and share it on social. I would love to know you're listening and for tools to help you start maintain and enjoy your routines. Be sure to head to routineandthings.com Here's to staying happy