Planning

Yes! I find this really messes with my anxiety as I am very very prone to catastrophising! I have to try and remind myself that you never know what will actually happen, and 90% of the time it's best to have a vague plan of action and then deal with things when they happen.

Hey there. Nice to meet you, even if it's an older thread. I totally get what you mean about overplanning - it's so easy to get carried away, right? It's awesome that you're trying to hold off until it's actually necessary. Sounds like you had a great day gardening and enjoying the sun. By the way, have you ever heard of Beverly Hills Event Production? They're known for their event planning skills. Just thought I'd mention it, because I've heard a lot of good things about them. Anyway, finding that balance between staying organized and not getting overwhelmed with planning can be a real challenge.

I tend to plan big things but not everyday ones. For instance I had Tuesday off work. Apart from a doctors appointment I have the day to myself. There are things I wiant to do that day but I will not plan them or it stresses me out. Work wise I can never plan more than 1 day ahead as thats the nature of my work. In terms of weekds I have a very full calender for the summer but never think about it much until the Monday before. 

On the other hand today my wife and I are booking a holiday for October. For weeks I have been looking at the hotel, area, whats where, nice restuarants etc, thats happy planning.

I tend not to plan ahead unless I absolutely have to, and just take each day at a time. That's partly because I never quite know how I'm going to feel physically and mentally from one day to the next, and can feel anxious if I make plans that I then have to abandon and cancel. I appreciate there are many people though who absolutely thrive on making plans and struggle to function without them.

I know what you mean. Sometimes planning can feel fun to me though so I try not to see planning as something to fear. I try to address my mindset instead and see that as the thing that needs adjusting rather than just banning myself from planning incase I get too obsessive.

I do and like you mentioned, it’s something I’m trying to get a better balance with as well. I can become quite frustrated if the plan changes and then later I start to feel down that I let my frustration get the better of me. It has been something I’ve always found difficult, in fact as a child I would get very frustrated if we went out shopping and the order of shops changed from what my mum had said before we went out- at the time, nothing much was thought about this, but perhaps it was a bit of an indicator from childhood. 

Yes I plan everything! Always have, big and small things. Doesn't matter to me, it has to be planned in detail or I get extremely anxious and upset. My husband is similar which is good as I plan for him as well ha ha.

I rarely plan, and when I do it isn't in writing.

Bookending is a good tool; which I should use more often. It makes one accountable.

Yes, especially if I am meeting with friends, I will plan it about a week before hand and write it down and I get a bit frustrated if someone changes the plan or if something spontaneous occurs which throws the plan out of the window