Stuck in Planning Mode: What to Do When You Can’t Seem to Take Action

Quick question: Have you ever spent more time picking out the perfect productivity app… than actually being productive?

Or made a color-coded 90-day plan to "start working out"… and then took a nap?

Hi. Welcome to Planning Mode™, where the plans are gorgeous, the goals are inspiring, and the progress is… theoretical.

I have lived here. I have vacationed here. I once spent six hours designing a perfect weekly habit tracker and then forgot to fill in a single box. I’m not judging. I’m outing myself.

But here’s the deal: Planning mode feels productive, but if you stay in it too long, it becomes a very fancy way to procrastinate. So today, let’s talk about what causes it, how to get out of it, and what I do when my brain refuses to leave the planning phase.

Why We Get Stuck

Let’s call it what it is: planning mode is safe.

Planning is future-focused. Dreamy. Hypothetical. You can’t fail at something you haven’t started yet. And our brains love that. Mine especially. I’m a perfectionist by nature and a recovering control freak by trade. Planning gives me the illusion that I’ve got everything under control.

But the moment I try to execute? Boom. Reality hits. Now there’s risk. Now I might mess up, or get judged, or realize the idea wasn’t as good as I thought in the shower.

Also, let’s be honest, planning releases dopamine. It feels good. You make a beautiful Notion dashboard or a three-color sticky note system and you’re like, “I’m basically the CEO of my life.” Meanwhile… nothing is actually happening.

My Rock Bottom

Let me tell you about the time I spent two weeks making the ultimate “Morning Routine Flowchart.”I’m talking spreadsheets, sunrise alarms, habit loops, reward stacking. I was this close to adding an FAQ section.

You know how many mornings I followed it?

Two. And then I overslept, panicked, and used the entire chart as a coaster.

That’s when I realized: I was hiding behind planning. I was trying to protect myself from failure. But you can’t improve a routine you never actually run.I wasn’t avoiding failure, I was avoiding data. Execution gives you data. Planning just gives you hope.

What Works

Here’s what I do now when I catch myself spiraling in planning mode:

1. The “What Can I Do in 10 Minutes?” Trick

If I can’t start big, I start ridiculously small. Planning a YouTube channel? Great. Open Google Docs. Write an idea in 10 minutes. Done.Trying to declutter your life? Set a 10-minute timer. Toss what you can.The goal is momentum, not perfection.

2. Plan the First Step, Not the Whole Staircase

I used to make 30-step launch plans before I’d written step one. Now? I plan ONE next action. Not “build a website.” Just “buy the domain.” Give your brain a win, not a wall.

3. Time Box the Planning

This one changed my life. I give myself a set window to plan, 20 minutes max. After that, it’s go time. Want to plan your week? Cool. Timer starts now. You can tweak later, but the launch window? Non-negotiable. No more infinite prep loops.

4. “Done Ugly” Beats “Perfect Never”

I live by this now. Your first draft will be messy. Your first video awkward. But done ugly still moves you forward. Perfect never leaves the house.

Planning mode is like reading the entire IKEA instruction manual, laying out every screw, and then staring at the pile of wood for three hours because you're afraid of using the Allen wrench wrong.

Newsflash: You will mess up. You will put the shelf in upside down. But at least then, you’re in the game.

Nobody builds a perfect life from the blueprint. You build it by doing… and adjusting along the way.

What to Remember

Planning has a place. It’s the warm-up. The stretch. The map.

But action? That’s the road. That’s the trip.

So next time you find yourself stuck reformatting a to-do list for the fifth time, ask yourself:

Am I planning to take action… or just planning to avoid it? Because trust me, your dream doesn’t need a better system. It just needs you to start.