The Power of Planning: Turn Swirling Ideas into Action
The Power of Planning: Turn Swirling Ideas into Action
Do you ever find yourself jumping into a project without a plan and feeling totally scattered? Or maybe you’re stuck, unable to get started because there’s no clear direction.
Today’s episode is all about the power of planning. I’ll walk you through how to organize your thoughts, create a plan that works for you, and take actionable steps—even when things feel overwhelming.
It’s time to turn that mental swirl into focused action!
What The Office Can Teach Us on How to Plan
Let’s start with a funny example from The Office—the American version we all love.
There’s an episode where Idris Elba’s character, Charles, asks Jim to complete a “rundown.” Jim spends the entire day trying to figure out what a “rundown” actually is, too afraid to ask for clarification. He’s paralyzed, unsure what to do, because he doesn’t have a clear plan.
This is a great analogy for why planning is critical, especially if you have ADHD.
When you’re uncertain about what’s expected or don’t know the next step, it can lead to frustration and inaction. Having a plan in place reduces uncertainty and makes it easier to take effective, focused action.
How to Prep Before You Start a Plan
Effective planning isn’t about jumping straight into action. It starts with a bit of prep work. One of my clients put it well: “You’ve got to demystify the journey.” If there’s no clear path, you need to create one.
Planning may feel like extra effort up front, but it ultimately saves time and energy. A solid plan allows you to prioritize, identify task order, and gain clarity on what needs to be done. This, in turn, reduces feelings of overwhelm.
Planning Like a Pro: Step-by-Step Guide
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to create a plan that works for your ADHD brain:
Do the Prep Work
Before creating a plan, gather materials, ask the right questions, and visualize your end goal. Ask yourself:What does “done” look like?
Do I need more information to get started?
Who can I ask for guidance if needed?
Map Out the Steps
Identify the main steps needed to reach your goal. Consider whether there’s a specific order to follow and think about any potential roadblocks. This will help you stay on track when challenges arise.Break It Down into Manageable Tasks
Start with the first, most manageable task. Breaking down larger projects into smaller, realistic steps makes it easier to take action without feeling overwhelmed.Check in on Your Energy
Take a moment to gauge your energy before diving in. If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed, it’s okay to adjust your plan or start with a smaller step. Remember, you don’t have to do everything at once!
Why Separating Planning from Action Makes a Difference
For adults with ADHD, tackling everything at once often leads to overwhelm. That’s why separating the phases of preparation, planning, and action is so helpful. By spacing out these stages, you allow yourself to create a thoughtful plan and take intentional action.
This approach is not about slowing down—it’s about creating a process that truly works for you.
Putting Planning into Practice
As an executive function coach, I help clients create realistic plans that fit their brain. Coaching sessions helping you map out your tasks without the pressure to take immediate action. By giving yourself time to plan first, you set yourself up for a smoother, more organized path to success.
Skipping the planning phase might feel like you’re saving time, but it often leads to more chaos and frustration. So, if you’re feeling scattered or unsure of what to tackle next, remember to pause, plan, and then act.
How to Plan for a Smoother Day
Planning isn’t just for big projects; it can also simplify your daily routines. From figuring out what’s for dinner to organizing your free time, planning reduces mental load and helps your day run more smoothly. By taking even a few minutes to map out a plan, you’ll make your daily tasks feel more manageable.
How do you get unstuck & take action? Create your own individualized toolbox!
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My proven 3 part formula to help you get “unstuck” and take action
How to build a toolbox so you can finally finish the tasks that have been on your to-do list forever
Simple self-talk techniques to shift your mindset, reduce stress, and manage your chronic overwhelm
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Sarah Lovell (00:00)
Do you ever jump into a project without a clear plan and feel totally scattered? Or do you find yourself bouncing between tasks because you aren't sure what's a priority? Have you ever been totally paralyzed trying to get started on something because there isn't a clear plan?
In today's episode, we're going to talk about the power of planning. We'll break down how to organize your thoughts and map out a plan that works for you. From identifying your first step to anticipating roadblocks, you'll learn how to turn mental swirl into focused action.
So I am a huge fan of The Office, the American version. And there is an episode that probably doesn't stick out to other people, but it really sticks out to me. And I think about it a lot when I'm actually working with clients and talking about planning and uncertainty. So there's an episode where Idris Alba, who plays Charles, Michael Scott's replacement when he leaves the show.
Charles asks Jim to do a rundown. And basically Jim spends all day trying to figure out what a rundown is.
And actually, let me see if I can play the audio,
Hey, you know what? Do you have a rundown that I could take a look at just so I know what the rundown you're looking for? Just keep it simple. Keeping it simple, that's what I'm doing. But I am working hard on this one. Real hard. You're working hard on this? No, not too hard. Not harder than I should. Right. I mean, why work harder than you should?
So the reason I love this episode and I love this scene in particular is because it highlights something that I talk about with clients all the time. You can't take action if you don't know what you're doing. And you can't make a plan if you don't know what you're doing. Uncertainty leads to inaction. So if you're somebody who's ever felt paralyzed,
stuck, unable to get started on something, it is really important to check in and see if you have clarity. And so that's exactly what we're going to be talking about today. We're going to talk about how important planning is, the power of planning, and the two steps that come before we take action. Because it's not just planning, we have to actually prep to plan, and they are different. So that's what we're going to be talking about today.
I was recently talking with one of my clients who has a big work project that was assigned to him and he was feeling pretty overwhelmed by it. And when I started asking questions and trying to work with him on creating a plan, we identified that there was a lot of uncertainty. So similar to Jim in the office being told, hey, can you go do a rundown without being told what the rundown is, what it looks like, what the expectations are.
my client was kind of handed a similar large project and said, hey, do you want to be in charge of this? Like, we're not really sure where we're going with it. Like, can you be the point person and can you help us figure out how to get started on it, what it should look like? So my client said something so powerful. He said, I need to demystify the journey. And I was like,
Yes, that is exactly what we are going to do today. We are going to figure out how to demystify the journey because you really can't get started on a journey unless you have a map. And in this case, he had to draw his own map. He was not given a map. And so that is why planning is so important. If you do not have a clear map, you need to create that for yourself. There is definitely a time and a place
to jump right into things without a plan. I'm not saying we need to plan everything. There's definitely time where it's beneficial to be spontaneous and to be decisive and to take action right away, right? Without doing some planning or thinking ahead of time.
But if you find yourself feeling paralyzed, overwhelmed, or aimlessly switching between tasks and basically checking nothing off your list, that's when it's beneficial to plan. So planning is really important because obviously it makes it easier for you to get started if you're feeling stuck or if you're feeling paralyzed. Planning also saves time and energy.
And I know that feels a little counterintuitive because planning and prepping takes time and it takes energy, but it really does help you be more efficient because it helps you prioritize. It helps you figure out timelines for things. It helps you figure out if there needs to be a certain order of events. And that helps you work through overwhelm, especially on things when they're larger projects, larger tasks.
Even if in our everyday, if there things that just require multiple steps or problem solving, planning can alleviate some of that stress because it removes uncertainty. It gives us clarity. It helps us figure out where to start.
This is something that I'm talking about with clients all the time because we are constantly planning things, whether it's big projects or one-off things at work or in our personal lives, or if it's just the day-to-day things that we're doing. I had a client say, when I feel confused, it blocks me from taking the next step.
That's why planning can be really powerful because it helps you create a mental map of what the next steps are so you can anticipate what's coming. So let's talk through the planning process and what this can look like. As always, whenever I share tools, suggestions, strategies, this is a friendly reminder.
that there's no one size fits all for anything. I'm going to just give you a tool for your toolbox, something to consider, and I encourage you to take what's helpful, adjust it to fit for you, and leave what isn't helpful.
So before we even get into the planning process, we do some prep work, pre-planning, if you will. So this is where you're going to be gathering your materials for drawing your personal map for whatever your task or goal or project is. So this might include thinking about what is the end goal?
Right? Doing some backwards thinking. Do you know what it looks like? Do you know what is expected? Do you know what done looks like?
This is super important. So similar to Jim from the office, not knowing what a rundown is, similar to my client who was told, hey, can you figure out what this project is going to look like? If you're not sure what the end goal is, it is really, really, really hard to plan and even to figure out how to get started. So being able to look at
the end goal, having a visual for ourselves, having some expectations, having, even if it's like not a full picture, being able to at least say, is what done could look like, right? So doing some backwards thinking there. Then brain dumping action steps or chunks or information that you might need. So checking in with yourself.
Do I need more information? How will you gather it? Who can you talk to or where can you get that information? So sometimes information gathering needs to happen before we can even get into the full planning mode, right? So identifying where you need more clarity. And then checking in on what's the timeline. Is there one that's set?
Is this something that you need to identify for yourself? Is a timeline even necessary here? So these are some questions that can help you prep. And then you can think of planning as mapping out the prep. So is there a specific order that things need to happen? Maybe you're revisiting the timeline to make it more concrete. This is where you're identifying your first step.
and thinking about where you might hit roadblocks or barriers along the way. How can you anticipate them and what will help you navigate them?
So this process of prep and planning, like I said, it takes time, it takes energy, but it helps you take action. So carving out time and energy to do this work will hopefully save you some time and energy when it comes to taking the first step and getting into action mode. And when you're getting into action mode,
identifying what is the smallest, most realistic step that you can start with, and identifying are you feeling stuck and checking in on why. And if you haven't listened to my episode on being stuck and the difference between being stuck and procrastination, definitely go back and check out that episode, but I'll give you a short little version of it right here. Basically, procrastinating and being stuck are two different things. Procrastinating is,
I don't want to do the thing. Being stuck is I want to do the thing, but I can't figure out how to get started. And so that's where this prep and this planning can play a really important role in getting unstuck. So if you're stuck because it's feeling overwhelming, being able to break it down, if you're feeling stuck because you aren't sure what needs to happen, getting more clarity, information gathering, asking for help, right?
The prep and planning and action phases are all separate things.
People are trying to do everything all at once. They're trying to prep, plan, and take action all in one sitting. And sometimes that can work. But oftentimes, that can be an overwhelming process. If your plan is, okay, I need to get started on it right now, but you haven't done any prep or planning, then that's where that overwhelming stress can kick in of like, my gosh.
I'm not ready to get started. I can't take action yet. There are other things I have to do. And so something I talk about all the time with clients is separating these phases out. So give yourself permission that you do not need to plan and take action at the same time.
I wanna repeat that for you so that you can really let that sink in.
Separating out planning and taking action might feel like a totally new thing to you, especially if you're somebody who finds yourself in crunch mode. If you're somebody who urgency is what helps you get started on things, like doing things kind of at the last minute or towards the deadline. So this is where it can take a lot of practice and patience to do something new.
And this is what I help clients with. I help them look at their timeline, look at their energy, where does all of this fit in so that you can give yourself more time to do things and still create some of that urgency along the way if you're somebody that needs a little bit of pressure to get things done. Being able to spread it out in this way alleviates some of that stress.
and makes it a more sustainable way to get work done.
Spreading this process out, giving yourself time to prep and plan and take action separately definitely takes practice. This is something that I help clients with in one-on-one coaching and in my coaching membership, Stuck to Started. So there's a couple of different ways that you can practice this. So one is giving yourself designated time.
to plan, right? So again, separating out planning from taking action. This is something I do in my coworking sessions with clients. So our coworking sessions are a designated time to create a plan at the beginning of our coworking session and then take action, whether it's in that coworking session or in a future, at a future time.
I think it can be really tempting to skip the planning process because we think that that will save us time. Like by just jumping into something, you're like, well, at least I'm getting started. At least I'm doing the thing. But the projects and tasks that require planning end up taking more time and more energy and maybe don't get done.
efficiently or even get done on time if you're skipping the planning process. And honestly, I think it, for a lot of us, it ends up feeling more chaotic when we're trying to just wing it in real time without having a clear plan.
So if you're feeling stuck or overwhelmed when it comes to planning, even daily tasks, like figuring out what's for dinner or what you'll do with your free time after work, you are not alone. Planning is not just about planning the big things. Planning daily tasks also makes your life so much easier, calmer, and things go smoother. But the trick really is figuring out
when you'll be able to do this planning and getting into a new habit or routine or flow with saving time and energy to do this planning. And so if that's something that you're looking for support around,
Join us in Stuck2Started. We are constantly talking about how to prep, plan, and take action, how to separate those things out, how to do it in a sustainable and realistic way for your life. Like I said, it needs to be individualized to fit for you. There is not one size fits all, but that's something that in Stuck2Started, we're able to look at together in our hot seat coaching calls.
in our co-working sessions and in workshops. So if you're curious about joining us in Stuck to Started, click the link in my show notes and you'll get to read all about what's happening in our community. If you're curious or you're not sure if it's the right fit, send me an email or message me on Instagram and we can chat and make sure that the community is a good fit for you.
So I'm wishing you all the best as you do some prepping, planning and action taking this week. And thank you again for being part of my community here.
