crossing 4 lanes in 10 feet OR planning & organizing to make the trip safer

You've seen it happen...you're driving along in the third lane of a busy four lane highway. You check your mirrors and notice someone coming up quickly on your left. The next thing you see is the blur as they go from the far left lane to the far right lane to barely make an exit almost taking a few bumpers with it. Now you might think they don't know where they're going. But if that is the case, they shouldn't be going 100mph in the far left lane! So maybe they were distracted: chatting to someone in the car, singing to the music or talking on their cell phone. Again, if they don't know where they're going, these may not be the best activities to pursue:-) Okay, then what...

LACK of PLANNING! Distractions from...something that led the person to not observe that their exit was coming up in adequate time to plan to safely move from the lane they were in to the appropriate lane to make an exit.

Lack of planning impacts many areas of our lives - organizing included. If we don't plan what we need to purchase we often buy something we already have or don't buy something we actually need. Lack of planning means we expect to get more accomplished in a day than we actually have hours in that day. I'm sure you have your own examples of how lack of planning negatively affected something in your day recently. So let's concentrate on the positive side of planning.

For some people planning is a "dirty word." Planning feels unspontaneous or constricting. I would submit that when someone finds the mode and amount of planning that works for them, it is very freeing. Here are a few examples:

• Rather than writing down a list of needed purchases on paper, maybe the list is in your smartphone either as a written list or recorded so you can list to it.
• Maybe your daily to-do list is the three to five most important tasks (not projects!) to be completed and if you have extra time you can decide the next task. Or maybe you put each task into a specific timeslot in your calendar.
• Getting ready to travel? You could have a generic packing list that you update with items for a specific trip or you could have commonly packed items on a shelf and just put them in a suitcase.
• Maybe instead of creating lists you use mindmaps or use sticky notes on a large wall space.

Different people have different methods and tolerances for planning. There is no right or wrong way to plan. It is best to find a way that works for you and your circumstances. But ignoring planning creates situations that negatively affect you and those around you.

If you need help discovering the type of planning that works best for you, feel free to contact us. We love helping people uncover ways to make their life easier and more enjoyable.