Planning Saves the Day

From taking a trip to making a cake from scratch, planning is important. The planning process is the same no matter what you apply it to.

First comes the Inspiration–“I think I’ll bake a cake for an upcoming occasion.”

Then Planning–“Looking in the recipe book I see I need flour, eggs, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, oil and vanilla. I’ll also need a two bowls and two nine inch round pans.

The Preparation step requires obtaining all the ingredients and supplies, setting them out with the recipe and getting yourself ready to bake.

The next step is to execute or mix the ingredients, pour them into the pans and bake for a specific time.

Evaluation follows. With a cake this means inserting a toothpick to see if the cake is baked through. The final evaluation is in the eating.

Forgetting to plan or prepare can result in failure or extremely creative last minute juggling. Sometimes the “saved by the seat of your pants” approach turns out well, but more often–not so much.

Five minutes planning can save lots of time in doing and bring about a far greater likelihood for success.