52 Weeks to Make the World a Better Place: Week 30 - Plan

It's my opinion that we've lost the ability to plan for anything: younger people never learned the skill, raised on a culture of instant communication and capricious whim; and more mature people have let the concept slide, confining it only to major commitments like holidays, relying on the last-minute dash to the supermarket.

Planning can be very useful for ergonomics, meaning that you have to make fewer of those short car journeys that are such a source of atmospheric pollution. It can reduce stress by providing the reassurance that you've 'thought of everything' (well, almost!). And it can increase the pleasure of anticipation by forcing you to consider in detail all those wonderful things you're vaguely intending to do. Rediscover that basic faculty for a richer mental life!