A Planner's Guide to Better Planning

Unofficially, I consider myself a planner. Not a notebook to write plans on but a plan-er, an architect of a particular party or event of sorts. I wasn't bestowed this title, but for some reason I'm the guy that everyone sets up to plan stuff. While I've been accustomed to this task, trust me, it is hard to plan a "plan". Why is that?

1. People are lazy.
2. People like to change their minds.
3. People who ask you to plan would later dismiss your plan because it doesn't suit their taste.
4. People don't like to have the stress of planning something but doesn't have the initiative to follow it.
5. People are people (and yes you should buy new clothes I guess).

Through it all, I always take the burden of planning a concise plan only for my plan to be treated as trash. I USED BRAIN CELLS PEOPLE! I analyze stuff and expect my plan to push through (this is not a rant, okay maybe a little). But hey, I'm use to it. So for all you guys out there who wants to be a planner of your group or is "planning" to make a plan, here are my tips to be a successful planner:

Planner not needed.

1. Be engaged - First thing you need to do is step your foot and say "I AM IN CHARGE BITCHES!" (unless you are in a Christian group then just change the last word) You need to make the people realize that your plan is the ONLY plan that they will follow or hell will break lose (again if you are in a Christian group then use another biblical passage). It is important for people to understand that you are in command so that there won't be any confusion on who to follow. You need to be quite active about this because you are the heart and brain of this plan (and sometimes the liver if you plan to include alcohol). Without you, someone else would probably do the planning (and we don't want that) so man up and make sure this plan is good to go.

Yeah you the man in charge!

2. Get commitment - Before you plan the specifics of your event or outing, you need to make sure that everyone is on board. You may be the heart and brain of this operation, but a body wouldn't be complete without arms, legs, eyes and ears (including penis and vagina a.k.a. your horny friends). The approach could be different and would vary from each person in your group. You can try the personal approach (e.g. Hey man, I'll be planning our event next Saturday. I need you to support me on this or this plan will be fucked up. Don't make me hurt you.). Or you can go ahead and message them through text or online (e.g. Planing a party dis sat!!! Expecting every1 2 participate. Dont make me hurt u.) It's all about making them understand that you are the head dog in charge and they are expected to follow through.

3. Note all options, check all options - Now this is the crucial part. You need to know now what you are going to plan about (because you are the planner right?!). Mostly, planning is made for happenings such as an out of town trip or your birthday (because no one wants to surprise you on your birthday you poor thing). Options will vary as well depending on certain factors such as budget, time, and availability of people (unless you don't have friends then this wouldn't be a problem). For starters, ask people about what they think. As a planner, as much as you are the one doing the planning, you need to know the preferences of the people involved especially if it is an outing. List all their ideas (even if they suck) and once done, try to do some research about their suggestions. Most of it will be ignored anyways so let them feel involved. Once everything is settled, sort out which is the best option of them all and start working on it (which is of course, your preference).

Just like love, it is made of ocean water and offers tons of fishes.

4. Provide a systematic plan - If possible, use an Excel for this (if you are poor, paper and pen will do). First thing you need to work on is the agenda. Put some time frame for it. Let's say you'll start of 6AM and then allot an hour to wait for people. And then provide another time frame for the next thing you are going to to for the day up until your day ends:

     6:00AM-7:00AM       - Circle Time
     7:00AM-7:30AM       - Travel to Bus Station
     7:30AM-8:00AM       - Wait again for those lazy-ass losers
     8:00AM-8:10AM       - Contemplate on just going by yourself
     8:10AM-10:00AM     - Travel time to place
     10:00AM-10:01AM   - Receive a text saying they decided to go to another place
     10:01AM-End of day - Weep like a bitch

Next is the budget. You can't do stuff without money so it is important to make sure your cost is balanced. From breakfast to lunch to dinner, your fares and all additional costs should be accounted:

     Breakfast - PHP50.00
     Lunch - Ask some from friends
     Dinner - PHP20.00, and if possible ask some from friends
     Fare (Round trip) - PHP100.00, if friends won't lend money, walk
     Total: PHP170.00 and donations (SAVINGS!!!)

Once everything is settled, prepare for people to have some input. Some (and I mean almost all of them) would be late so you need to bump the circle time to 8AM and your friend's budget is short as well, so, good luck with that. Changing the plan is part of the job until you can finalize a perfect plan.

5. Have a Plan B - Of course, as hard as you plan, not all plans will push through. Especially with a friend who out of no where has an excuse emergency or a natural calamity has destroyed the venue that you are about to go to. You need to prepare yourself another plan. You mostly would go back to Step 3, look for the next best option, create a plan and go for it (which sadly is your other friend's plan).

6. Prepare for the worst - This is something that hits me a lot (and most likely to you too). As good as it is to have a Plan B, often times, there aren't even plans that can be push through at all. At times if a plan is cancelled, then the whole outing or party is cancelled. What's worst, they might go to another person's plan. You are left exhausted, unappreciated, which leads us to...

7. If #6 happens, don't plan anymore - Look, it is always nice to plan, but if nothing really pushes trough, then hey, just be a good scout and follow whatever plan is made. You may not like it, but at least there isn't that much pressure on you if everything goes haywire (and I know you'll be hoping for that).

Two is company, three is a crowd. Four is just pushing hard. Go home.

Being a planner is never easy. It takes a lot of toll on you and sometimes, no plans even transpire. But the important this is to try, push through with it, and learn from it so that your next plan would be awesome. Planning is a hit and miss, but anyone can be good at it. Heck, you can even make it as a career. Just remember that planning takes a lot of thinking. Never believe in the saying "that most plans that push through are not plans at all." That's #YOLO. So go and take all these tips to be a successful planner, who knows, it MIGHT just be good enough to be a success.

A more "magnificent" planner than you.