Is it possible for a blogger to plan too much?

Planning has clear benefits for bloggers

Thoughtful planning is one of the most important steps you can take towards establishing a successful food blog. When you take time to plan, you clarify what your goals are in the first place. You visualize what success looks like to you.

Once you’ve got that vision in place, you can identify all of the steps you’ll need to take to get there. You can set goals that will keep you focused on achieving.

As with all things, however, you can spend too much time planning. Without setting a few limits, it’s possible to become stuck in a rut that leads nowhere. It’s cooking, not the recipe, that puts food on the table. Likewise, it’s action, not a plan, that’s going to move your food blog forward.

Planning becomes a problem

When it’s confused with procrastination

As long as you’re in planning mode, anything is possible. The sky’s the limit. Once you move from plan to practice, there’s a chance that you’ll fail, embarrass yourself, or realize that you hate blogging.

If you’re worried about your next steps as a blogger, it’s possible that you’re relying on getting your strategy “just right” as an avoidance strategy. Perpetual planning saves you from actually doing the hard work of creating posts, reaching out to sponsors, or refining your blog’s online presence and seeing what happens.

When it limits opportunities

The more time and energy you spend in the planning phase, the harder it will be to deviate from the plan. In some ways, that’s a good thing. You’ll be less likely to get distracted if you have a thorough plan in place to guide you.

On the other hand, sometimes deviation is the key to success. If you’ve invested an inordinate amount of effort into your strategy, you may pass up unforeseen opportunities because they’re not included in the plan. While accidental success isn’t necessarily sustainable, it shouldn’t be sent packing if it comes a-knocking.

When it prevents momentum

Planning can be a powerful tool when it’s implemented. But you’ve got to implement it for it to be powerful (or a tool for that matter). It’s not uncommon for bloggers (or anyone) to get caught up in a cycle of planning that never actually manifests as action. Making the plan becomes the action.

If you feel like you’re losing momentum in the planning process, you’re probably over-planning. Figure out the bare minimum that you must plan in order to get started achieving your blog goals, and then get to cooking!

When it steals your joy

I hope that if you’re blogging it’s because you’re excited about sharing your insights into the culinary world. Sure, we’d all like to make money as bloggers, but to stick with it, you’ve got to enjoy doing it.

Too much planning can do more to stir up your fears and anxieties than to calm them. Again, figure out the least amount of planning that you need to do in order to get started moving towards your goals. Don’t let the planning turn what should be a fun professional pathway into drudgery.

When it interferes with your true purpose

There are a lot of reasons to plan for your blog’s success. Planning can help you develop a sound promotional plan. It can help you in your quest to monetize. It can even help you create a consistent editorial calendar. But ultimately, it’s not blogging. It’s planning.

You started your blog to invite friends, family, and even strangers to take a seat at your kitchen table and learn from you. Don’t let planning interfere with that.

Tell me about a time when you got carried away with planning.