The other day, I heard someone mention “OOPS Syndrome” in a conversation about calendars. I questioned what OOPS was and the response was “it’s Overly Optimistic Planning Syndrome”. This made me laugh out loud with familiarity – both something I see in myself as well as in others.
At work, there are often comments like “my day is back-to-back meetings; I don’t even have time to use the restroom”! When this happens, it’s likely a sign that an OOPS day is about to happen. The meeting schedule is full, there are things on the to-do list and, a unexpected problem comes up and the whole day is thrown off.
The syndrome itself is triggered by optimism bias. Those with optimism bias in planning tend to overestimate the amount that can be accomplished in a day and underestimate how that plan could be thrown off track.
My Story
One of my Top 5 CliftonStrengths is Achiever. This is the strength that has a lot of stamina and “takes immense satisfaction in being busy and productive”. This is me. I love a good to-do list and strive to get everything checked off .
The concept of OOPS is new to me. However, as I reflected on the concept, I realize that I’ve with this throughout my life. There are four strategies that I’ve put in place over the last 10 years that help in having it show up less frequently.
Intentional Meeting Acceptance – There have been many work phases where there were so many meetings that I had no time to get my work done during daytime hours. I was optimistic I could fit the work in the margins and that just didn’t work. Realizing that you are in control of your own calendar and intentionally accepting meetings helps.
More Time Than Estimated – I’m also overly optimistic about how long a deeper project will take. I have learned that I need to plan in an extra hour a day for work that takes a bit longer than I thought.
Spreading the To-Do’s – On many occasions I’ve had a to-do list that just carried over to the next day. This always leaves me feeling behind. I now put to-do items on future days so that each day I know what “must” be done that day. I can jump ahead to the next day if I finish early, but don’t feel overwhelmed by the daily list.
Expect the Unexpected – No day will ever go as planned with meetings on time, projects completed on time, and no “issues” cropping up. Knowing this, I try to plan a little buffer time here and there to deal with the unplanned.
These strategies have been helpful for me. The next time you find yourself in OOPS, give them a try and see if any of them can help you as well.
Your Turn
Have you ever struggled with OOPS?
Do you struggle with it now?
Do you think any of the strategies here might work for you?
What additional ideas do you have to combat the stress caused by Overly Optimistic Planning?