All my life I needed a plan D. Because having just a plan B was for the unprepared, so I needed to go to at least that fourth level of preparation. And while it made me excellent when the time was right (which it almost never is), it changed the person I was for the worse. So much worse. Here is what it has taught me.
Overplanning dials up your panic mode. You need to plan when it's important that things go right. When it could be potentially catastrophic if your plans fall apart. So if you overplan for everything, then your brain will start to think that any small thing going wrong could have catastrophic consequences. Because surely if you are spending the time and energy putting together a plan D for if you can't find that book in the first bookstore, then it must be important. If you need a plan for what to do if it rains and your coat isn't waterproof and your umbrella breaks, and there are no shops or cafes to go inside and wait for it to pass, then that must clearly mean that water on your skin will make you melt like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. Overplanning makes everything massively important and it dials up your panic mode until you feel that living with the constant anxiety is normal. Like you are an oversight away from the end of the world.
Overplanning means underliving. If you are busy shutting the world away, constantly honing your battle plans, you will plan your life away. That is what happened to me. As a teenager I was always thinking about what was the next cleverest thing I could say in a group conversation, and by the time I had the ultimate comeback, the conversation had moved on. And worse; this would continue indefinitely and I even when I did say something, I would carry on overthinking how I could have said something smarter, funnier, more interesting. The perfect comeback would come to me hours (days!) later when it was pointless. It left me with constant anxiety and feeling I was less capable than everyone else. Also I was never living in the present; I wasn't listening to the conversation, rather I was trapped inside my head running loops like a frantic hamster in a wheel after it's been given way too much caffeine.
Overplanning kills adaptability. Struggle is the mother of evolution. It's a basic principle; unless challenged and threatened, living things have no need to change. Why bother? It would be a useless energy expenditure to improve something that already works. So we need plans to go awry to change and adapt. The ability to adapt, to improvise when things go wrong is something that requires practice. It's like sharpening a blade; you stop doing it and it will go dull. So if your plans are so comprehensive that everything always goes according to plan you don't need to improvise. You just follow your own script. But sooner or later you will need to deal with something that you failed to anticipate that day you will need how unprepared overplanning has made you.
Overplanning narrows your comfort zone. Isn't it great when everything goes according to plan? Or when you dazzle everyone (yourself included) by being prepared for something that does go wrong? Like you were expecting it all along and Fate just couldn't outsmart you even with a sudden turn of events? Yes, it does. It makes you feel awesome. But at what cost? The more things go the way you plan then, the lesser your ability to react when they don't. Also, the more you cushion your life, the harder it is to endure the slightest discomfort. If you are caught in the rain, is it really that bad? Which brings me to...
Overplanning gives you tunnel vision. It robs you of the ability to ask yourself So what? and see things for what they are. Yes, you forgot to bring a coat and your commute home is colder than you expected, so what? It's just a temporary discomfort; the moment you get home you will get warm again and all will be well with the world. In fact, whenever this happens to me I have learnt to focus on how much more I will appreciate the warmth in the short future because I am cold now. It also give you perspective. Many a time I have had to tell myself If you can stomach a cold shower (because the gym ran out of hot water), you can *insert whatever distasteful activity I don't want to do*. Now if I hand't had that cold shower I couldn't say this, could I?
Overplanning destroys your self-esteem. The more I planned for the unexpected, the more I felt unable to deal with life. Overplanning made everything bigger and scarier while making me feel more and more dependant on my plans. Like I wasn't strong enough to survive without them. After all there is no valour in following a script. It is when things go wrong and you have to make it on your own, to find solutions on the spot, that you see your true worth. It was only when I opened myself to the unexpected that I started to see that even when things did go wrong, that I was strong and able enough to deal with them. That they weren't so bad after all. And that build confidence.
Overplanning kills spontaneity. If you stick to what you know, you will never learn anything new and worst of all, you will never be surprised. Your vision will never broaden and you will lose your sense of marvel and wonder. And who knows what awaits if you take the road less travelled? A couple of years ago, the boyfriend and I were driving to Lizard Point in Cornwall. As we approached our destination we spotted a handmade sign just off the side of the road saying Cider Barn. This was not in our plans, which we tend to follow like gospel, but we made a promise to spend ten minutes less in Lizard Point to check this out on our way back. In the end Cider Barn allowed us to taste and buy incredible local ciders and lovely glassware that we now use for candles whenever we run a bath. It was a gem of a find that we never would have explored if we just stuck to the plan.
I don't mean to say to live your life winging it. To never prepare. No, by all means lay your plans down. Plan for A and B. If it's really important, go for C. Just don't run through the alphabet. Learn from me and open yourself to some degree of uncertainty. Trust me, there you will find treasures you don't know you seek. Inside and out.
