Spending Too Much Time Planning in AI
From the AI Workflow cheat sheet · Troubleshooting Common Issues · verified Jul 2026
Spending Too Much Time Planning
Hours on PLAN.md, no code written
text
PROBLEM:
You've been working on PLAN.md for 2 hours and haven't written code.
DIAGNOSIS:
You're overthinking it. Planning doesn't need to be perfect.
SOLUTION:
- Start with what you know
- Get to 80% completeness, then start coding
- Update the plan as you learn more
- Remember: PLAN.md is a living document
- It's okay to revise as you go💡 Perfect plan doesn't exist - start with good enough
⚡ 30-60 minutes of planning is usually sufficient
📌 You'll learn things during implementation
🎯 Planning and implementing inform each other
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