What Type Of Planner Are You?

Planning is strongly associated with Judging types in the Myers-Briggs personality theory. However, most people do some degree of planning in their life. Subsequently, the word “planning” takes on different meanings that’s solely dependent on the subjective view of each individual. In other words, when we say that INTJs are “planners”, it’s extremely easy for other personality types to adopt the INTJ label because they view what they’re doing as planning. (And to be fair, as stated earlier, it is planning because everyone plans to some degree.) As per usual, this is yet another case of semantics, so let’s take a look at some different types of planning to get an idea of what planning can mean to different people.

Different Types of Planning In Individuals

The goal here is to label some different forms of planning (that people associate with the word, anyway), explain each, and draw logical connections to the personality types that are most likely to use each form of planning. Although, it’s common for people to use more than one, changing based on the situation. But, usually people have certain default or preferred approaches. Anyways, if you notice any that are missing, or wish to add some nuance, feel free to share in the comments! And, for the record, I came up with the best labels I could think of, but they may not be perfect. Hopefully the main idea comes across.

1. Visionary Planning

Visionary planning is essentially thinking about the future in order to establish a goal. To be frank, visionary planning isn’t really planning in a literal sense. It’s more like goal-setting, assuming the individual actually establishes a clear goal. Someone who actually forms in-depth plans (like many TJ types probably won’t consider this to be planning). However, I’ve seen a lot of EP types and NPs, who either land on a general trajectory or like to mentally sift through possibilities, consider this to be planning. Don’t get me wrong; it’s important to have a goal, but a goal is not really a plan. A goal is the “what”, while a plan is the “how”.

Most people, regardless of personality type, do Visionary Planning at some point, unless they’re floating through life with absolutely no dreams or goals. (An individual who’s just floating through life with no thought to the future is most likely an unhealthy or imbalanced ESP type.) The NP types frequently participate in Visionary Planning for fun, and less focused ones might shift around their “plans” frequently. The unhealthy or imbalanced NP will be all “plans” and no action. But, generally speaking, for every personality type, Visionary Planning is a starting point, because you can’t start mapping a course until you have an end point that you wish to reach.

2. Skeleton Planning

I wasn’t exactly sure how to label this, but I’ve often seen perceivers (especially SPs) mention that they make a “skeleton of a plan” or a skeleton plan, so I went with it. A skeleton plan is essentially a framework, checklist, or outline of what needs to happen in order to reach the goal. It’s a loose structure intended to track milestones or key components, without bothering to dive into the details. For instance, if someone were to go on vacation, a skeleton plan might look like a general list of activities that they intend to do or might like to do, with maybe any information that limits when these activities can take place. So, if something can only be done in the latter half the week, that would be important to note. However, a skeleton plan will not usually include a schedule of when exactly these things will happen (day, time etc.), and it may not even include exactly which activities will happen. It’ll be flexible and open, but have enough structure to prevent inactivity and encourage forward movement.

As I mentioned, this is typically the perceiver’s preferred method of planning. Of course, other personality types might use this style of planning for things that they don’t deem super-critical. ISJs usually want the least amount of ambiguity in their planning, and INJs aren’t too far behind them. (Although, some may outsource their planning while still expecting an in-depth plan to be produced by the person they outsourced it to.) EJs vary, as their perceiving function is tertiary. Some might prefer more open-endedness, depending on the context, while others will tend to be make their plans more detailed and specific. (As a general rule, SJs err on the side of specificity, while NJs tend to be more general. However, a TJ’s focus on efficiency and logistics will surface in their planning, while FJs will want plans that can adapt to people’s moods and needs.)

3. Short Term, Operational Planning

I stole the word “Operational” from another list of planning styles in relation to an organization or business. Essentially, short term operational planning would be daily plans or plans for the very immediate future. Think time-management, routine, or just navigating the daily grind. I think most people do this form of planning to some degree. Some people have hyper-specific daily schedules, while others operate off more of a skeleton plan or maybe a checklist. (In other words, other types of planning can be combined with this type of planning to further define it.)

I’ve been watching videos from a certain YouTuber who likes to plan out his immediate future (like the next hour, or the morning, etc.) down to the minute, essentially designating exactly how his time will be spent in order to keep himself from getting distracted. That’s a short-term operational plan. It ensures basic necessary tasks get completed, so life can continue on. I know people like to attribute any kind of detailed tracking, lists, schedules, etc. to the STJs, or perhaps TJs in general, but to be honest, from my experience, anyone that needs a lot of external resources or aids to manage their time and productivity is usually not a TJ. TJs usually have those processes baked into their brain already, and don’t need all the extra help to keep themselves on task. (As per usual, don’t take this too extreme – Most busy people, regardless of personality type, need a basic calendar to track appointments and such.)

4. Long Term, Roadmap Planning

This is the type of planning that TJs associate with the word. Long Term, Roadmap Planning is essentially forming a strategic, concrete plan to ensure you reach your goals. This is always used in tandem with Visionary Planning, because in order to form a long term plan, there has to be an endpoint in mind. So, as mentioned in the Visionary Planning section, Visionary Planning is the “what” or “where”, while Long Term, Roadmap Planning is the “how”.

I’ve seen people explain their plans (with of course their own personal details inserted) like, “I’m going get a degree, find a job in my field, and then move to wherever the job is at and find a place to live.” That’s, at best, a skeleton plan. That’s not a strategic, roadmap plan. As I’ve seen my cohort, Ryan (ISTJ), put it, “That is not a plan. That is an idea.” There is no “how” in that type of plan. That person is basically banking on the idea that they’re going to figure each step out when they get there. Someone forming an in-depth plan will have researched things like how much job demand there is for a particular degree, what types of job opportunities, what the typical salary is, where the jobs are located geographically, what the cost of living is in those locations, etc. The visionary plan (idea) has to become fleshed out in order to become a roadmap plan.

So, for the example above, “I am going to get a degree” has to become, “I’ve researched all the schools in my area, figured out what degrees they offer, which ones I am interested and suited to, what the tuition costs, how will I be affording it, what the class schedules are, if it fits in with all the other pieces of my current life, how long the degree is going to take, what the class workload looks like, etc.” After accounting for all of that, and answering any other relevant questions that arise as tangential spinoffs, the roadmap begins to take shape. After the main path is formed, then the backups have to start to be accounted for. “What if I can’t work with the class schedule? What if it’s out of my affordability? Is there alternative paths? Etc.” This process has to be done for every stage of the visionary plan and then weaved together cohesively. Once all of the details have been ironed out then you would have essentially a first draft of a roadmap plan that would need to be further refined and honed as the pieces become more clear.

Of course, this is just an example. Different types may do this to varying degrees of depth, but there has to be a reasonable amount of depth to the roadmap plan for it to be valid.

5. Reactionary Planning

Lastly, there is Reactionary Planning (or maybe Unexpected Crisis Planning) which is essentially the planning someone does when they’ve either failed to plan or their plans have failed. This can happen to anyone. Some people make no plans, and then life gives them a good enough scare to force them into planning mode in order to survive whatever ordeal is about to happen. Whereas, other people make super well-thought-out plans, but then something unpredictable happens that forces them to pivot. Someone can try really hard to account for all possible scenarios, but sometimes life just happens, and you have to pivot. I would expect any personality type to be subjected to this type of planning at some point in their life.

In Conclusion…

I know that wasn’t very deep, but sometimes I like just adding context to words we use frequently, If you can think of another category that I didn’t mention, please share! Or even your own relationship to planning. I’d love to hear your experiences.