Lost on what to do

So on weekends I actually get to play ACNL, I end up not even knowing what to do and just sit around town or just walk around. i really wanna work on the town but idk where to even start since theres my house to finish, then i need to organize public works projects, and i have to work on paths and landscaping, but idk where to even start with everything...so i end up doing nothing LOL

does this happen to anyone else??

There has been nothing else to describe my experiences with Animal Crossing New Leaf, landscaping. xD I still don't really know how to motivate myself but just letting you know that you are NOT alone in this! I feel like when I think about all the work I have to do, I get intimidated that I'll mess up and have to start over. Perhaps take ONE task and work on that and try to ignore the rest for now. I feel like that I look at all the work and panic but if I break it down and slowly work on it overtime, I'll make progress.

Remember that this game is supposed to be fun and relax you. Try not to take it too seriously!

I always find it really useful to start with paths. There are plenty of great tutorials out there about making simple stones, bricks, sidewalks, etc. Once I have all the houses and buildings connected by paths, I find it much, much easier to landscape, because the town has been divided into small squares rather than one huge, open area.

Maybe you should just focus on one thing at a time! Like finish up your house and then work on other things? Everything will probably seem overwhelming at first but maybe starting small will motivate you!

Start small. In the end, AC:NL is intended to be a relaxing game, so only take on what you can handle.
- How big is your house? If it's small, focus on getting it to one 8x8 room (largest before the second floor is offered). Then design it bit by bit, looking in the T&T store each day to see if they have what you want.
- What sort of theme do you want for your town? Look up a list of all available PWPs and take note of which ones fit your theme- Fairytale PWPs go best for a pastel town, and Zen PWPs can be used for...well, for a Zen town! Even the "common" PWPs have their uses- plenty of people just make a "typical" town.
- Look online for some nice paths as well, ones that fit your town theme. Once the QR Machine is unlocked in the Able Sisters' shop, scan them into your pattern set and lay them out on the ground. If you don't have it yet, then just set a day aside to lay all those default patterns on the round to mark what goes where- stag beetle for PWP, rose for path, etc. and leave blank ground only for villager plots, to keep villagers from gong into bad spots or trampling your flowers and trees. You don't have to do everything at once, though! Just look at one thing at a time. AC:NL is meant to be played in short bursts unless you're, say, laying paths.
- In that same vein, if you get home sometimes and just have a relaxing evening to yourself, then you can always check on your villagers and do small stuff in your town in the evenings! Save big stuff for the weekends, though.
- What villagers do you want in your town? If you have the money to spend, then go on eBay or Amazon and buy amiibo cards of your "dreamies." (But if they're Sanrio, then it will be very, very expensive.)
- Once you have the Dream Suite, you can always visit other dream towns for ideas! You just walk around in pajamas and browse the town. This is also a great way to get a sneak peek at villagers you're thinking about moving in.
- There are shops for pretty much ANYTHING here on TBT! (And on r/ACtrade too.) Common furniture, rare furniture, landscaping tools, flowers, saplings...even villagers! So if there's something you need, then by all means, ask the kind people on here!
- If you need the money to build everything you want, then go to the island and catch rare beetles and sharks. 30 mins.-1 hr. of hunting can net you hundreds of thousands of Bells if you play your cards right, and it only costs 1K Bells for a round-trip sail!
In the end, just have fun! If you would rather have a town without paths or other fancy implements, then by all means, have at it! You don't have to do what everyone else is doing! AC:NL is a place to build your dream town first and foremost.

I usually start with a mix of the large PWPs and paths. I find the PWPs I am 100% sure I want and I find where I want them, then I plan paths around them and the larger buildings, like villager homes and your own house. This makes it easier to find spots for smaller PWPs or for landscaping because you already have an idea of where the free space is.
As far as decorating houses... I am still working on mine. I find things I like, furniture and such, and try to see how I could put them together with other pieces to build a room. But really, this keeps changing constantly. I thought I was done with my house last year, but in recent months I've found myself changing up wallpapers and flooring and then having to change bits and pieces of the furniture to fit the style or vice-versa.

I like to get my paths in and try and get bells to pay off home loans. My goals change a lot though.

Everyone plays a little differently, but I find that the best way to get things rolling is...

Before playing...
- Have an idea of what you want to do with your town. There's 4(?) themes you can choose as far as PWP: modern, natural/rustic, fantasy, zen. Go through the list of PWPs online and decide on the ones that look like they would be cool to build your town around.

After the first week or 2...
- You presumably have 9 villagers. Get all 10 for your complete population (you can also trade, give TBT, or IGBs to people here for dreamies if you don't have amiibo). You can either cheat, use the reset trick, or just live with the random plots that they do. Either way, once they're all settled in, you can start small by doing some basic landscaping.

- If the QR machine from Mable is available (talk to her for 10 days), scan a path set that's simple and fits your planned theme. You don't need to do anything elaborate yet. You can just start making a path that connects villager homes to the town tree, retail, the train, etc.

- Before you start laying down PWPs (a few of which are permanent: campsite, reset center, cafe, police station) or anything else, if you have fruit trees left after your move ins, then collect from all of them (including perfect) and save them. Don't sell these. Any future villagers and PWPs (if you don't have dreamies) can leave you without trees that grow crops.

- Go to Nookling's everyday and buy furniture - even if you never use it. Same with the Able Sisters. The items you collect now will go towards the catalog and most things can be bought again. The point is, you want as many options as possible when you actually start getting your house decorated. Another way to get furniture is to buy items off of campers (once you have the campsite - not Harvey's). Nookling's stores limit you to what's in stock for that particular day. Campers can give you infinite items where the only restriction is how many Bells you're willing to part with (some items you buy will be cheaper, some will be 2-3 times more expensive than Nookling's/Retail).

3 weeks into a month and beyond...
- Start building up your house. At the very least, get it to 8x8.

- Do initiatives on your ID card. You get 2 goals (red) that last the day and 2 (blue) that last the week. Get MEOW coupons, and you can get items from HHD, items usually restricted to holidays, etc. from Harvey's camp and the RV's that show up. You can also trade these coupons in for Bells.

- Talk to your villagers. Do them favors (I would ignore fish/bug/trades if you want their furniture untouched).

- Build your wealth by going to the island and catching beetles and sharks.

- Build your museum. Donate bugs, fish, crustaceans, fossils, genuine art. Get the second floor.

- Get all your locations on main street (Katrina, Dream Suite, Club LOL, Shampoodle, Kicks, Nookling Emporium with Gracie).

- Get all PWPs overtime and start building them. I do the permanent ones first - in out of the way locations - then the more scenic ones.

- You can start getting fancy with landscaping.

Remember...
Take everything a day at a time and keep your goals small. AC is supposed to be relaxing, not a chore, obligation, or overwhelming.