25 years ago, going out with friends meant making a plan and showing up. You knew what you were going to do and who you were doing it with. You knew where you were going and what time you were getting there. There was no texting to interfere with preconceived plans.

Now, going out with friends means planning things one step at a time. You text people to get dinner. Then change the place five times until you finally make a decision. Next, you make a plan to pregame somewhere, and that plan changes again and again. It’s not until halfway through the pregame that you bring up the conversation of where the main event for the evening is. You hear that a bunch of people are already at this one place so you plan to go there. But, no, it’s gonna be so facey that you can’t possibly have a good time there. You exhaust six more options of places to go before you finally decide on old-reliable.

Because of texting, we can now change our plans over and over. We waste the entire first half of the night texting about where to go and how much fun other people think each place is. What ever happened to just going somewhere and deciding for yourself?

One of the most frustrating feelings comes from listening to people make decisions and judgements off of other peoples' experiences. I want to be able to have the experience for myself and then form an opinion on something. Throughout the school semester, and the summer as well, I am constantly finding myself missing out on things because my friends decide they don't want to go; "Jack sad there was no one there," or "Becca just texted me that it's so crowded you can't move," or "Alex said it was boring but to come through in like an hour," – all things that I hear at least twice every weekend. Sometimes I would rather go to all of those places and have all of those negative things be true than sit at home and not go anywhere for an hour.

My challenge to you:

The next time you decide to go out with your friends, make a plan. Tell everyone that it is definite and there is no changing it. If you all get somewhere and decide you don’t like it, right there, in person, decide to go to your back-up.

Going out is stressful and most of that stress comes from not knowing what you’re doing. By setting a plan and making it definite, you can eliminate 95 percent of the overwhelming frustration of your night.

I’m gonna try this too next time. If you’re not sure about trying it, I’ll let you know how it works out.