The Only 2 Reasons you Need to Plan Ahead, or Why I Own Only Black Socks

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I have never been a planner, until several years ago when I had to get up early for work every day.  I am not a morning person.  I know morning people may not believe that it's a thing, but I am NOT a morning person.  I hate getting up early.  No, I don't hate it; it's painful.  It hurts to get up early.  I don't get up as soon as I wake up, I don't like getting up when it is dark out, and my body knows if it is early in the morning, and it wants to have nothing to do with it.  The other thing I hate is wearing socks.  I know, I live in Montana.  I have to wear socks here. So, when I had a 9-5 that started at 6:30 am, I did two things to help preserve my sanity.  I bought new socks that were all the same, and I picked out the next day's outfit the night before.  I didn't always lay it out, but by thinking about and deciding what to wear ahead of time, I awoke with a plan and I didn't have to use my still foggy brain to make a decision.  This felt silly at first, until I realized my mornings were so much more peaceful and smooth when I wasn't trying to decide what I felt like wearing that day. Also, I could stop matching socks (a whole amazing relief on it's own) and I wasn't searching for missing mates as I was trying to get out the door.

Weather you run your family, run a business from home, or work outside your home there are always lots of things to keep track of, and it helps to think ahead.  By writing down the information, your task list, your plans, or your schedule you do two important things:

1.) You prioritize that issue or task by dedicating time to it, and you solidify your plans or intentions by writing them down.  Whether it's financial responsibility by tracking your budget, how you eat by planning your meals, or what you need to get done by setting your schedule, you show it's importance when use your time to write it out. 

2.) You reduce stress. By planning ahead, or simply making a list, you no longer have to remember every little thing that needs doing. Nor must you try to decide what to do next.  Once it's outside your head and on paper, you can use it as a guide to stay focused, or refer back to it if you get lost.  Additionally you free up some space in your head, because you aren't trying remember it all.  You just look back at your previously laid out plans.  

Regardless of what your priorities are, when you take the time to think about what is important, or what you want to accomplish, you are taking the weight of remembering off your mind.  By writing down appointments, important dates, and your plans for the day, week, or month, you are giving yourself the gift of more time to actually accomplish those tasks, instead of trying to remember what they are, and when you aren't wasting time trying to remember what you forgot, you give yourself more leisure time to catch up on Mad Men, a show you never took seriously enough while it was on, and are now trying to catch up on.

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