Planning fatigue is real

7 ways to take a pause and get back on track

I am the planner in my family. If you read this newsletter, my guess is that you are the planner in your household as well. Especially as the level of complexity rises, someone needs to keep track of who needs to be where and when, and how you will get people to four different places simultaneously with three drivers, one of whom plans to be in Berlin that day. Good times.

Planning is work — hard work! — but the challenge of this is that when you are really good at it, everything can appear seamless. That can lead other people to believe it’s easy. This is annoying. It is even more annoying when people complain about something that has needed to be intricately planned because they aren’t seeing all the moving parts. When work is unappreciated, resentment sets in.

This is “planning fatigue.” When I suffer from this malady, I declare that I am never planning anything for anyone ever again. Of course, this doesn’t really work, so here are some other ways to take a beat and feel better about things.