Why it is so hard to plan

The more time you invest into and attention you pay to planning a project, the easier it will kick off. Often the main project will even run automatically if it was prepared diligently. And if you also introspect a project directly after its finish, you can avoid mistakes next time. This is true for complex software projects and big events with hundreds of participants, but also for small errands like washing the dishes. And this example also tells us why planning and introspection is easy to understand and hard to master: You get to the kitchen, and it looks like a mess: Dishes are scattered every and cutlery is mixed with bowls. It's a very dismaying outlook, and you loose enthusiasm and just start and wash the first item you get a hold off. It takes a lot more energy to take a deep breath and first sort the items and first wash things that are only slightly dirty, so you can see progress quickly and keep the dishing water cleaner longer. And even harder: If you ask yourself after you finished cleaning the dishes what went really well (like: clean all glassy things first), you will be even faster next time. But that is another investment that needs mental energy and easily skipped.