Pros and Cons of Planning

I would consider myself a planner. I have a physical planner, lists of ideas, and goals. Yet, I have had many friends, family members, and coworkers who hate planning. These people hate the phrase, "what is your plan..." This has given me experience with those who hate planning. 

I hope you find my list helpful. Feel free to add pros and cons in the comments below. 

Pros of Planning

1. You will get a lot more accomplished.  So many people live hour by hour if not minute by minute. This makes it hard to get much accomplished. When you write your plan you have a direction, and those minutes begin to work toward your end goal. 
2. You are less likely to forget important events. People that don't have a plan often forget doctor's appointments, school meetings, and wedding anniversaries. 
3. You don't  need to keep track of everything inside your head.  Planning is how I dump everything in my brain onto paper. This helps me not to stress about forgetting something. This has helped me balance school, work, and being a stay-at-home mom. 
4. Your life has a direction. If you don't know where you want to end up it doesn't matter what you do. However, most of us have dreams (aka goals) that we want to accomplish. Planning allows you a better chance of living your dreams.
5. You will be more organized, and your life will run easier. My day runs closer to clockwork when I have a plan. 
6. Less likely to double book yourself. This is the worse! When you don't take the time to plan, you can easily find yourself in uncomfortable situations. 
7. You will sleep easier at night.  No need to stress! Sleep is too precious!

Cons of Planning

1. You can drive other people nuts. Planners are the  Achilles' heel for non-planners. This is hard, especially when you are a people pleaser. 
2. It can become an obsession. I love planning, but there are times it can be overdone! If you are on vacation and have an itinerary of every 15 minutes of the day, you may fall into this category. 
3. Life can easily be over planned. Over planning can take the fun out of an adventure. It is healthy to take random detours that weren't in your plans.
4. Life doesn't always go to plan. Planning can cause you to lose sight of what is most important. Your child may need extra time, your neighbor may need to chat, and you may need time to unwind from a stressful day.  
5. It can be tedious. Do you hate taking the time to plan? It can be rough!
6. You can rely too much on your plan.   You may find yourself forgetting to write appointments down, forgetting to factor in diversions, and much more. 

"Our goal is to help the world make decisions with a list of Pros and Cons. We invite all to add to our lists to help others make the most educated decision possible. We are all in this world together to help each other and learn from what others have learned from their lives journey."                          - Pros and Cons Team
                                             Written by: Kristen