When planning is everything it's nothing

There’s a classical example of time management woven into a well-known fairytale – the story of Cinderella. Despite the challenges she faced, Cinderella did her best by sticking to a routine and planning her time carefully. She knew that she had to finish her chores before she could go to the ball, so she made a plan and worked steadily toward her goal. 

When the world around us is in a state of uncertainty, many questions arise. Will I make it to the ball? Will my life turn out the way I want it to be? Will I achieve my goals? Not knowing the future creates a feeling of uncertainty. In order to avoid driving ourselves into a dead end with endless worries, let's try to consider what a healthy approach to planning can do. 

Planning gives you more…

Kate Sweeney, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, specializes in the effects of uncertainty. Her work focuses on how people cope with uncertainty during periods of waiting. Sweeny says, “People will say anecdotally and in our research studies that they would rather get bad news now than not know what is coming,” 

Planning can provide a feeling of purpose and that one is taking action to overcome their challenges, like a lighthouse ahead that marks the path of your journey. Planning allows perspective, and allows the allocation of resources rationally. It becomes clear what not to pay attention to. 

Alison Holman, a professor of nursing and psychology at the University of California, Irvine, says that to restore a sense of forward momentum, it is vital to create "a sense of what you are going to do today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow to achieve a future goal."

Planning contributes to better results in the future. For many people, high levels of stress cause inactivity. Simply building a schedule in Calendars will get you a better sight on your day, week, or month. This gives the structure and motivation for long-term planning - to learn foreign languages or to master new skills. .

How to plan effectively

1. First things first - if you have been using several calendars, you can bring all your calendars and tasks together into Calendars, with effortless synchronization.
2. Long-term planning allows you to prioritize your daily activities. A person should have an understanding of where they want to go in the long run. 
3. Use color-coding in Calendars, you can quickly and easily see what you need to do each day and ensure you're staying on track with your goals. You might assign green to all work-related tasks, blue to personal appointments, and orange to fitness goals.

You can now view your calendar in a way that allows you to see all your tasks and events at once, such as a monthly or weekly view. This will help you get a sense of how busy you are at any given time, and how your different tasks and events are distributed throughout the week or month.

Does the way you plan influence the planning itself? Yes. 

To protect yourself from stress and procrastination, and avoid disappointment at the end of the year, you should avoid these three common mistakes when planning.

Wrong #1. Planning for the sake of planning

Not only is this a waste of time, it puts us in a disengaged frame of mind. When we have no willpower to engage with our goals, we risk living the year by default. So plan when you have energy and enthusiasm to sit down and think about your goals. This guarantees that you will be set out to realize your most important dreams.

Wrong #2. Looking only forward

Analyzing the previous period is a solid foundation for setting goals for the next. By understanding what worked and what didn't work in the past, we give ourselves a better chance of avoiding the same mistakes in the future.

Wrong #3. "I can do anything!"

Sometimes people want to have it all at once, and instead of performing tasks in a moderate way, they try to achieve beyond their means. We are constantly told to set ambitious goals, do better, and achieve more. If you don't filter your goals for the year, you run the risk of chronic fatigue, total distraction, or even burnout.

Calendars makes dream come true

Planning is where miracles happen: Cinderella's godmother, though charming, had planned carefully when she sent the young lady to the ball. The horse-drawn carriage was made of pumpkins, and the foot soldiers were made of mice, but the romantic meeting with Prince Charming was thought out to the smallest detail! No matter how tense it was when the clock struck twelve, it was still a beautiful miracle designed through the magic of planning.

The story of Cinderella is a reminder that with hard work and good planning, everyone can achieve their goals, even in the face of adversity. No matter how old you are, keeping your life goals updated and reviewed regularly is vital. And one of the most effective ways to do this is to use a Calendars.