5 ways your project planner will kill your progress and what to do about it
I’ve used — and abandoned — countless planners over the years. But for 18 months now, I’ve used the same planner every week. Finally, it’s working!
© Maarten Van Den Heuvel on Unsplash
It’s kept me on track and helps me reset when I’ve gotten lost. It helps me break down daunting tasks into smaller bite-sized pieces—and actually get them done.
It also just happens to be a secret project planner I designed after lots of trial and error.
Here’s what I learned about how most planners set you up to fail:
Irrelevance overload.
Your planner has:
A one, 5- or 10-year plan.
Goals for every life area.
A gratitude list.
Daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly reviews.
Does any of this busywork get you closer to your actual goal?
Work only on what matters. Leave the extras for your personal journal.
Confusing goals with your (real) work habits.
Your planner has:
Lots of sections to fill out on each page.
Rows of checkboxes and habit trackers.
Not enough room for a messy collection of tasks and errands.
Days broken down in 30-minute increments, which fuel anxiety, then guilt.
Are you hoping the aspirational format will magically reduce procrastination and create momentum?
Understand your habits for how you succeed—but also hide. Anticipate avoidance behaviors so they don’t stop you in your tracks.
There’s no bridge between goals and tasks.
Here’s where most project planners really let us down.
Your planner has:
A beautiful daily timeline. But what if you don’t know which tasks are supposed to go there—and in what order?
No space to brainstorm, or untangle mental and emotional static.
No process for identifying and assigning smaller actions connected to your bigger goal.
How do you figure out what to actually DO with so many competing priorities?
Attend to your fear and anxiety first with proven calming techniques. Then create your best guesses for imperfect next steps.
You’re under pressure to lie to yourself.
Your planner has:
It’s human nature to motivate ourselves a vision of perfection at first, because it gives us the oomph we need to get going.
Let’s face it: life happens. There are family needs. Tech problems. Skills you don’t have. Unexpected disasters. Illness.
So many checkboxes and sections and pages and questions, you’re bound to skip a bunch of it.
Are you tempted to make “pretend progress” because you feel increasingly behind?
Power consistent momentum with the truth about both wins and losses, not just the good stuff. A reality-based plan is energizing.
You’re trapped in a fantasy marathon.
Your planner inadvertently encourages some unhealthy habits:
Hustle culture.
No days off.
The feeling that you’ve never done enough.
The mirage of “almost there.”
Have you devoted way too much time and energy to chasing the dream?
Close the open loop of guilt and grasping. Practice regular resets, accept what was, and start fresh every week!
If you’'re curious and would like to learn more, the (secret, never-offically-launched) planner is here:
