Today, I'm starting a weeklong (three-post) series on planning.

First up: why should we plan?

Put quite simply, we plan before resources are finite. No one has unlimited time, money, and energy. Planning allows us to allocate these scarce resources in the best way possible.

Let me give you an example. You don't plan your week and you realize at the last minute that you need to file an important paper with your mortgage lender. So you make a special trip to the office store to send it overnight and you stop to pick up dinner on the way home because it's now too late to cook. Because you had no plan, allowing you to complete the paperwork in a timely way, we spent time finding the paper, driving to the office store, and filling the sending paperwork. You spent extra money in gas, postage, and in buying takeout for dinner. Plus, you arrive home frazzled and stressed.

When you have a plan, you have what you need when you need it. Your life feels more orderly and less stressed. You can spend your time, energy, and money on things that are really important to you, not just on today's crisis.

We also have to accept that our lives are complex and fast-paced. We have a lot that we know we should do and not enough time to do it all. Planning allows us to gain control of the complexity and keep our eye on our goals.

So, have I convinced you?