Setting aside time for what's important to us today is imperative to living a happy life. Planning is different from wishful thinking as you probably know. I like the quote you mentioned that life is what happens when we are busy making plans. It means a lot to me. As far as I'm concerned, planning comes first, then focusing on the everyday task at hand comes next. Everything we do should automatically contribute to the 'bigger plan'. That means we don't have to sit down and review our plans every single day if we already know we're headed the right direction.