Post # 1
Member
4656 posts
Honey bee
Imagine two scenarios:
1. You’re sitting at home. You have to wake up for work the next day, but you know it will be a slow, easy day at work. It’s about 5:00-6:00 PM. Do you know details already, like what you’ll eat for dinner, how you’ll spend your evening, and approximately when you’ll go to bed? Or do you just go with the flow and do things as you feel like it?
2. It’s a Saturday afternoon and you’re planning to go out tonight. It’s not a special occasion but you’re going to meet some people casually for some drinks at a bar/club in a bustling part of town. There’s no specified meeting time, more a general range of when to show up. Do you know when you’ll leave the house, what you will eat and drink, how much you’ll spend, and when you’ll go home (and whether you’ll go to a second or third location)? Or do you just wing it and make decisions in the moment?
Do you decide this stuff ahead of time or just do whatever feels right when you get to it? If you do choose ahead of time, how early in the day are you usually thinking about it and deciding? We’re not talking about big important decisions, just little ones that don’t really matter that much in the long run.
(Stems from Darling Husband and I being very different this way and wondering which is more common.)
Post # 3
Member
3025 posts
Sugar bee
- Wedding: July 2014 - Prague
I am not a big planner. I usually have a vague idea of what I want/need to do, but I rarely stick to it strictly.
Post # 4
Member
2500 posts
Sugar bee
I try and plan my days by making a list of things that I would like to get done that day. I do it based on the big rock, pebble, sand analogy…so big rock jobs take precedence, then pebbles and sand items get interspersed. This helps me to try and achieve something for the day rather than sitting around watching television (I am on holiday at the moment so not at work).
In answer to your scenarios…
1. Of a quiet evening in, yes I do usually know what I am going to eat…mainly because I would have got it out the freezer the night before! I try to go to bed around the same time each night if I have work the next day but sometimes it will be earlier and sometimes later.
2. I am a creature of habit so tend to like to drink the same things when out and, if going to a restaurant I frequent on a regular basis, then I do tend to eat the same things. I usually have a vague plan in my mind about what time I would like to leave but depending on who I am with and what we are doing will depend on if I stick to it or not. I hate being late for things so will arrange and plan roughly when I am going to leave the house.
Post # 5
Member
9674 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
I have a to do list every day, some things I get done, others I don’t. Unless it is a day where something is on – work, uni, special occasion – I try to get the to do list done. I don’t usually plan what I will do in my free time, or what I will do in the evenings. If it is a night I am cooking I have that planned out a couple of days ahead of time.
Post # 6
Member
784 posts
Busy bee
@FromA2B2013: I like the rock, pebble, sand metaphor!
Like the others, I generally have a vague plan, but I find it best to see how the evening is going and go with the flow. For example, I might think I’m going home at 11 because I’m exhausted, but end up having a fabulous time and going to 3 more bars. But, maybe I would stick to my 11 leaving time if I thought I was getting sick and had a lot of work to do in the morning. I like being able to be flexible.
Post # 7
Member
2363 posts
Buzzing bee
- Wedding: September 2013 - B&B
I voted I usually have a coherent plan ahead of time, but that I am ok with deviating from the plan if need be. I do love to be spontaneous, but I am a planner by nature so I just find myself making plans in my head all the time. But I am ok with change!
Post # 8
Member
5219 posts
Bee Keeper
For day to day things like dinners, evening activities and such I am a planner. I kind of have to be because I have a pretty long commute, so from Monday-Friday I need a general idea of what is scheduled, what is for dinner, what time I can go work out, what I need to wear, etc.
On the weekends, eh– I am very much ‘go with the flow’… I don’t plan for our departure times on anything unless we have multiple obligations in one night and we need to be on a schedule.
Post # 9
Member
4047 posts
Honey bee
I’m a planner. I always have a vague idea of what is happening each day – even for the mundane things. Now, I will go with the flow. If I am at a party and I was planning to go home at 11pm, but I am having a great time, then I’ll go ahead and stay an extra hour. The plans aren’t do or die, but having them in place makes me feel secure.
Post # 10
Hostess
11068 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
Scenario 1: planned most of the time
Scenario 2: spur of the moment for sure
I like spontaniety but in the week I find being more organised is better.
Post # 11
Member
3371 posts
Sugar bee
When I was younger, I was pretty much go-with-the-flow. Now, what with wedding planning and stressful work schedules for both Fiance and me, not having at least a broad plan gives me terrible anxiety. I try to make a to-do list (gym or go for a run, calls and emails I need to make, contact wedding vendors, reply to friends’ messages, dry-cleaning, groceries etc). I try to do a grocery run every couple of days rather than saving it all up for a weekly shop, which I find more stressful. I’d rather keep the fridge topped up and always know I have healthy options when I get home from work.
On the other hand, with it comes to social engagements I’m pretty flexible. Always happy to fit in a spontaneous dinner with a girlfriend if the timing is mutually convenient, because I know how busy everyone’s lives are.
Post # 12
Member
953 posts
Busy bee
Since I cook dinner every night, I always plan meals ahead of time, so I know when to start prepping each day. For everything else, I like to have a general plan of what we’re doing, but I’m OK with things changing.
Post # 13
Member
2504 posts
Sugar bee
I’m somewhere between the second and third option, lol.
Post # 14
Member
999 posts
Busy bee
Day to day not always. But if I am going to see friends and what not I am planning at least 1-2 weeks ahead.