The way you plan should work for you. Make the plan work for YOU not the other way around. The plan should be easy for you to understand. If you're not working in a group, you're the only person that needs to understand what the fuck everything means in your master plan.

If I code off my chromebook I like to get a notebook and write out what I want to do. Just the idea and general direction of the project. Than, I'll get about 5-10 pieces of printer paper and create a massive flow chart. This way I can cross off objectives as I complete them, or add new ones if I run into a problem. Make sure you use pencil if you go this route. After I finish this, I'll tape or staple all the pages together and fold it up, ready to unfold on a table. This is because if I code on the chromebook, I'm coding on the go. I'll unfurl that shit onto a table at a coffee shop and get stared at.

If I'm coding at home, it's generally a big project. Most of the time I'll have two monitors setup. Regardless, I'll write out what I want to do in a notebook. Than, I'll use software to make a absolutely massive flowchart. I like draw and gliffy. Makes it easy since they are both web based.

Again, it's one objective at a time. What's great about flowcharts, is that it allows you to understand how to implement something to work with something else down the line. In my experience, it really chains together your project. For me, it's best to plan out the whole project before I even write a single line of code. If I do run into a problem, and need to change the plan, than I won't write a new single line of code until I have a new plan figured out. Once I started doing this, it really boosted my success in completing projects. It really helps to take a look back at the whole picture every day, because otherwise I'll get stuck on some tiny part of the project that really doesn't matter. Keep it objective orientated.

Do remember, you have to find what planning approach works for you, but I do recommend that you try out the method I use. Sometimes it seems pointless or boring to plan out the whole project, almost every aspect of it, but it's really worth it. I hate it when people say, "We'll figure that out down the line." or "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.". It really disrupts workflow and can cause a big problem when you do finally come to that point in a project.

TL;DR When you work on a project, you need to know what the program is actually meant to do. Plan it out like a general and you'll win the war. Flowcharts are your friend.

Don't lose sight of what you want to create. That goes for anything. Every time somebody starts an ambitious project, they always forgot how much hard work goes into making it possible, to achieve the ultimate goal. Every day when you wake up, remind yourself why you are working on what your working on. Have something created, that you can share. Remember, a programmer with 4 years of experience and nothing to show for it isn't as experienced as a programmer with 2 years and multiple projects to show for it.

You really need to plan and organize a project before you start coding. Focus on one step at a time. Plan out your project. Create a flow chart showing how to create the program you want to create. Create objectives, each a step towards final project. Finish one objective a day. This part is a little more up to you, but I find if I try to finish more than one objective a day I get burned out and the project fades out. Pace yourself.

Oh, and if you talk about your projects to friends or family, don't do so until you have something solid to show them. Otherwise, you'll get a false-sense of completion and reward. Let your finished project be your reward.

TL;DR Finish your shit or your wasting your time. Be organized.

Source; Self-Taught programmer that never finished a project until I organized and planned it out. 4 years of fucking around, no projects truly finished, 2 years of actual experience with projects to show for it.