Down With My Own Planning Fallacy

Here's something I need to get better at.

Extreme, early preparation.

I look at the large, printed, "Seize The Year" calendar on my wall. It's August 31st. There's work to be done in preparation for everything coming in the last four months of 2018.

I could look at the calendar and pat myself on the back for making it this far. I've paid my mortgage every month, transitioned out of a job, blogged every day, and set up a scheduled for changing the air filters on my HVAC unit.

That's good.

However, that's not extreme preparation. I am still often a victim of my own planning fallacy. It always takes longer than I think it will.

It's essential to think through the worst-case scenarios and prepare for that. I'm an optimist. I assume I'll be able to stop on a dime, if necessary.

But that's not reality.

Margin and white space. Not a luxury.

And I need to keep working at getting better at this.

Essentialists ... build in buffers to reduce the friction caused by the unexpected.
— Greg McKeown, "Essentialism"
Previous
Previous

Know Thyself

Next
Next

The Manipulators and the Leaders