Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Failure to Plan Ahead

Yesterday was Monday but I didn't post here, the first time I've missed my blog deadline since I started. Why? Partly because I have not been writing my posts ahead of time. Instead the day they are due is the day I've been writing them. When I first started I was a day or two ahead, but that hasn't been the case recently. So when yesterday came along and I had two major events to work on (one on an event I'm in charge of and another for a group I volunteer with), I had no post to fall back on and I missed posting.

I'm not writing this as an excuse to my tiny readership but as an example of what happens when we fail to plan ahead.

I've always been one to love lists and calendars but lately I've not been very good about looking ahead and planning. Even when I do plan, I've not been very good at following through. I might make a list but then only get one thing done on it.

This is partly just because I'm rather overwhelmed right now. I never thought I could be this busy while unemployed. I can only imagine how crazy my life might be right now if I was doing all of this and holding down a job. Perhaps this layoff was a blessing in disguise.

Planning ahead can be a life saver, if you follow through and actually do the work needed for the plan. If I had several posts in my queue waiting to be put on my site, then when things come up and I get too busy to post, it would only take a few seconds to have a blog post up and running, to give me breathing room.

In the same way an emergency fund in our savings account can give us breathing room, financially. When my husband and I were both employed last year I am happy to say that I put a fair amount away in savings for an emergency. This is what has been keeping us out of trouble since he lost his job in November and I lost mine in March. It's covered expenses for our big event in July, medical expenses for my sick cat, and generally kept bills covered during weeks where money was tight. If I hadn't planned ahead last year, I don't know how we would have managed over the last few months.

Thinking of the success of my financial planning ahead and my failure to plan ahead for my blog, I'm going to spend part of this morning getting organized and looking at what areas in my life (including this blog) need a little TLC. I need to plan out a few blog posts in advance and give myself some breathing room for busy days. I probably also need to do a few other things to create some plans for my future.

What things do you need to do to give yourself some breathing room? Do you have an emergency fund? What is stopping you from planning ahead?

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