Fixation on Lack of Obstacles
When we contemplate a plan, we often fixate on that plan going perfectly without obstacles. We don’t allow “slack” in the plan to handle unexpected things that come up.
Examples
Many people get thrown off their budget when medical expenses come up, or an appliance breaks, saying, “ couldn’t have seen that coming.” However, any reasonable person would know something unexpected might happen in a budgeting period, even if they don’t know in advance what it is.
We often procrastinate starting a time-due task, thinking that we have enough time to do it. However, we are fixating on that task completing without problems. So, if you haven’t started a homework assignment, then can’t find your laptop charger, it’s common to blame that unexpected problem, when we could have encountered and overcome the problem if we had started earlier and allowed time for the unexpected.