I think there’s one situation you can easily run into when using AI to put together a plan: the first version is already good enough to use, but when you ask whether it has any more suggestions, it gives you another ten.
They all seem to make sense, so you keep revising. But the more you revise, the more content you add—and the further you drift from what you originally set out to do.
It’s easy to confuse two things here: where the plan falls short, and what else you could add to it. Adding things doesn’t necessarily solve the original problem.
For example, suppose you’re organizing a get-together for twenty customers. All you originally needed to make clear was the timing, the agenda, the budget, and who was responsible.
AI suggests adding a livestream, a prize draw, and short videos to spread the word. Each one sounds useful, but every addition means finding more people, spending more money, and confirming more details. By the end, you’re organizing a different event altogether.
So how do you avoid this?
Before you start, write down the three things you must accomplish this time, along with what you’re explicitly not going to do.
When revising, ask AI directly: “Only check whether this plan meets the following requirements. For every suggested revision, identify the specific problem it solves. List new ideas separately, and don’t add them to the main text yet.”
In the second round, just check whether the problems from the previous round have been fixed, and whether the revisions have introduced any new ones.
For everyday writing, you can agree on two rounds of revisions to begin with, then decide for yourself whether to continue. That doesn’t mean everything will necessarily be correct after two rounds. It just keeps a small task from growing endlessly.
The next time you see AI give you a long list of suggestions, ask yourself first: if I don’t make this change, will it affect what I’m trying to accomplish this time?
