I am a planner and get it done as soon as possible! I like to know what is going to happen, when, how long, what I need to have to complete any task. I feel like if I get it done early, I get it done well, and my responsibility is completed. When I have to do something (organize games, church function or another type assignment), I like it to be done post haste. I will have it done days or weeks before event. I get so flustered if I wait until the last minute to get it done. What about you? What end of the spectrum are you on? Plan or last minute get it done person?
ha ha - I am both!!! I love to plan and know what is going on, but I also can be very spontaneous. That is especially true when I am on vacation. I may have an idea of where we are going, but we don't pick the days or times until we get there and see what the weather is like and more importantly, what we feel like that day. So when a friend calls me and says, "let's go bowling", I reply "what time?" and do the laundry another day. I heard that those that plan and are willing to toss the plan are more happy. So let's go with that.
I'm a planner! I'm leaving for my DD's on Friday for the long weekend and I put one bag out yesterday and started putting things in it. I always have a list too so I won't forget anything.
Definitely not a planner. I have always worked better under pressure. Procrastinate is my middle name.
I'm like @BevG - a little of both! These days it's been mostly the tyranny of the urgent so I've needed to focus on the immediate. But when it comes to taking trips I'll start packing days in advance from the lists I've made months in advance!
My plan is to do it at the last minute. For real, though, I'm a #planner4lyfe. 50-60% of the joy I derive from something is the planning & anticipation of it. This is why I love the Christmas season & making a Countdown to Christmas album every year but I don't really care about Christmas Day itself. My plans (unfortunately) include other people who do things at the last minute so I'm not really choosing to do it that way so much as I am forced to do it that way. I do my part and then wait and wait and wait for everyone else to do theirs.
To my dad the planning was 75% of the fun. He was a model railroader and he'd enjoy the thought process of how to create his train layout (which sadly, he never did finish) as much as running the trains on it. I'm kind of the same way on many things, too. I guess like father, like daughter!
I'm a planner; I plan to wake up early..And I do, --then pick up my book and read until the usual time for getting out of bed, and have the usual mad rush....
I like the control of a good plan, with enough margin to allow me to be flexible and "spontaneous" which I couldn't be if I was under pressure to meet deadlines.
I like to plan and write everything down, but that definitely doesn't mean that I'm going to do anything right away. I am the queen of procrastination and do almost everything last minute lol
I am totally last minute for everything... I would really annoy a lot of you I think. Travel plans we are especially bad at forward planning... one year we had to wait to book flights until the kids passports turned up (because of course we left that until the last minute...) They arrived on a Monday morning and we left for New Zealand on Tuesday evening with only first and last nights accomodation booked- all worked out ok in the end though (possibly reinforcing our attitude that last minute is ok...)
I alternate. I will be very organized and planned for a while, and then for whatever reason that breaks down (whatever reason - ha - that would be my procrastination) and I'm rushing around at the last minute. Overall, though, I think I stay in the middle for the majority of the time - with some planning and some procrastination.
Well, I first read this thread while on the train to New York City. I'm writing this while sitting at lunch near Garmercy Park. I bought the train tickets two months ago, but I purposely left the rest of the day pretty open. Last night at dinner DH and I asked the kids what their top Must See/Must Do items were. DD said "the Vans store," and lucky for her there was one like a block from the train station so that was our first stop. Then we gave options for lunch and walked here. So, we have a basic idea of what we're going to do but the day itself is open, if that makes sense. Like, after lunch we decided to go to the Empire State building. Semi-spontaneous but we're in NYC so why not? [I'm now on the train home lol. I wrote this whenever I had a quick second.] I like the (pseudo) control I feel when I plan. So...do I plan? Yes, I plan as much as I can. I decide what I want to do and I research it; but I try to leave room for other people's opinions and their whims. It's so annoying that I can't always do what I want when I want. But if my DD's concussion recovery and DS's broken elbow have taught me anything, it's that I can't account for everything, no matter how much I try. I know this thread wasn't vacation-specific, but this might interest people. There was a study done about vacations and happiness; planning a trip can be the best part of the trip! The anticipation can provide more happiness than the trip itself. I'm on my phone but here's the link: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-make-the-most-of-vacation_n_5755b42ae4b0eb20fa0e906d
This is me! I plan, plan, plan so that I can be spontaneous when I want to. With 7 kids, homeschooling, running my home, directing our local homeschool group, running this design business, I have to be on top of things. I find that if I plan and am organized it allows for more flexibility...does that make sense? If I don't have a plan I'm just flustered & don't enjoy much of anything.
I try to plan and organize my time but I also work well under pressure so if I fall behind on plans I don’t panic because I know I always get things done. I keep notes and lists as I like visual reminders of responsibilities.
In our everyday life, I am a planner. With kids in activities and sports and my hubby and I having our own activities and meetings in the calendar, I like to know as much information and get it all in the calendar so I can figure out how to get everyone where they need to be. I get a little bit of joy on an especially busy night when I can figure it all out correctly. For other types of things like planning an event at church or planning a vacation, I'm mixed... If I'm dreading the planning I put it off. For vacations, I don't like picking the dates for a vacation and I don't like booking the flights, etc. (probably because I never want to spend the money) but once that part is done, I love to research and find things to do once we arrive at our destination. I don't plan for specific days necessarily, but I like to have a list of "things to do" so that when we wake up and want to go to something, I have choices, then we can do what works for that days whims.
i would love to be a last minute person but i find it too stressful only because i get pestered for details. Case in point - we went away earlier this month and i had a bunch of 'should do this/ see this/ eat here' ideas on a notepad but purposely didn't put them in a spreadsheet or be as 'over the top' planner-y as we've done in the past, trying to be more relaxed and go with the flow, as we were staying in the one place the whole time, not moving between hotels and locations so the order didn't really matter. But then i forgot to pack the notepad and couldn't remember half the stuff I'd written down. Then the problem was when everyone else says 'so what are we doing tomorrow? where are we going for dinner?', that stresses me, having to figure it out on the spot - never again, back to spreadsheets, or at least remembering to pack the notepad next time! (it sounds a bit extreme i know but this is all based on the assumption that my family's picky-ness and bickering does not change and if anti-spontaneous spreadsheeting is what it takes to keep the peace, so be it!)
I am definitely a planner. That is my administrative side which competes with the more spontaneous artist side! And as much as our relationship has bettered and grown, my DIL is NOT a planner ( unless it is her family) and we ALWAYS have to wait to the last minute to have events/outings accepted or rejected. Makes me NUTS! LOL. Such is life- at least for now.