Why You Can’t Stick to Your Plans
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A new week has begun. I open my brand new hardcover planner, which still has this smell of fresh ink and paper, and write down my goal with a black Lamy pen. I smile as my chest fills with hope. This time it'll be different, this time I'll succeed.
It's a story of a person who struggled with planning for years.
I bought fancy planners recommended by social media in a feeble attempt to solve my problem. I was told that I didn't know how to create the right goals and was offered the proper way. I was told that I must find my purpose, and that'd be the answer. I was told that I badly needed a wall calendar, and that'd do the trick.
Well… it didn't. I wrote down my SMART goals and searched for my life's purpose, changing it after every book I read and a course I took. I still didn't try a wall calendar, maybe that'll make a difference. Spoiler: I strongly doubt it'll be groundbreaking, but I'll let you know how it goes.
At some point, I became convinced that planning is just not for me.
"Of course!" – I exclaimed after reading Barbara Sher's book – "I'm a scanner! It explains it all, including my inability to plan properly."
“Are you a scanner? ‘I can never stick to anything.' ‘I know I should focus on one thing, but which one?'"
– Barbara Sher, Refuse to Choose! Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams
That sounded a lot like me. Then Gretchen Rubin's book reassured me even further. I'm a Questioner! I can't stand feeling pressured to do anything, so this is why planning isn't for me. I feel its pressure on my shoulders and resist. It's just my nature!
"...because Questioners excel at looking for reasons and questioning decisions, if they want to find a rationale for avoiding an expectation or breaking a good habit, they can."
– Gretchen Rubin, The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too), p. 69
It felt good to have a clear and neat explanation of why planning and I didn't work well together. Sorry planning, it's not you, it's me. We have to break up, but let's still stay friends.
I guess I could've gone for a long time like that until I discovered something that blew my house of cards as if it were only smoke.
When looking for a reason why you couldn't stick to your excellent plan, you blame it on the lack of motivation, procrastination, low productivity, or when nothing else is left – retrograde Mercury.
So you pick up another book on getting more motivated than ever and on doubling your productivity, of course. What if I tell you that you've been looking for the wrong culprit. You're not unmotivated, lazy, or born to be a procrastinator. Trust me on that, I know! I was called all those things. You lack energy.
Yes, energy! That's what my discovery was about.
Most of us view energy all wrong. We think of it as two extremes: hyperactive people and severely sick on the opposite sides. And right in between the golden center – THE NORM. You, me, and that motivational speaker you follow on Instagram have the same standard level, don't we? Exactly like new iPhones come with the same battery, people are born with the same energy capacity, maybe in a perfect world, but not in this one.
There's no universal standard level of energy that everyone shares. Each of us falls somewhere in between the two extremes because it's a spectrum. You can have two times more energy than me and still not fall in the hyper category. You may also have less than me and be very far from a bedridden person. The energy level is a vast spectrum, so comparing yourself to others is unproductive.
I know a lot of people who can do much more than me in a day. Sometimes by the looks of it, thank you, social media, it feels like the majority of people. I can't live by their schedule for more than a couple of weeks without getting sick. It's an unpleasant truth. No amount of planning and motivation can radically increase our energy levels. We can't just plug into a socket and recharge to the max (don't you wish we could, though?).
However, if you start taking your own resources into account and plan accordingly, you can save yourself from frustration and become content instead. By now, I know how much I can accomplish in a day. So when planning, I rely on that.
I have good and bad days, days when I'm fully charged and running low. Depending on that, I plan my day. This is my secret to accomplishing goals. My task list doesn't look like an ancient scroll unrolling all over the room. It's concise, doable, and aligned with my current energy level.
We tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in one day and underestimate what can be done in a week, a month, or a year. Focus on small steps and progress versus grand undertakings in just one day.
I know it doesn't sound exciting and very promising. If anything, it sounds too simple to be true. You can stick to your plan if it's adapted to your energy level. It doesn't mean you won't be able to increase your capacity. However, to stick to your plan right now, you have to use what you have. Think of your energy the same way you deal with your money. You can comfortably spend as much as you have, but if you spend more, then you have to pay it back. If you overuse your energy resources, you'll need more rest to recharge.
P.S. If you found this post helpful, share it with a friend.
Be confident!
Yours,
Tatiana
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Hello!
My name is Tatiana Kuvaldina.
I am a colour expert.
My purpose is to help creatives like you to build their confidence one colour exercise at a time.
Let’s talk more on Instagram
Find me @tkuva_illustrates
