Planners and organised people

[Plannerspannermanners]

Is anyone else a planner? I feel like there are frequently threads on here about people struggling to keep up with their busy lives, but does anyone else just shrug and think - make a spreadsheet?

I’ve always been like this, even as a child. I can remember dates and times and have a photographic memory. I picture the days of the week and the months of the year on a continuous rolling wave (in my mind) and can always place when something needs to be done or will need to be booked in by. I don’t get stressed by being busy because I’ve always planned for whatever events are coming up. This is not a stealth boast by any means - it actually causes problems and the older (and more menopausal) I’ve got, the less I can cope with others, even DH, not being ‘switched on’ or needing reminding about what’s coming up and when. I know that this is my problem as I’m probably the abnormal one but it doesn’t stop it infuriating me!

Anyhoo - interested to know if there is anyone else out there who’s similar 😀

For financial planning I use a cash flow modeller. It’s pretty complex so not something you could do without the program, but the principle is basic:
what comes in
what goes out
inflation
life events
capital needs

To me it’s essential to understand where I am with my objectives.

Last Sunday in the month - I look ahead to the next six weeks and make sure I've got a note in the right week for things that need to happen eg book MOT. Looking six weeks ahead means you aren't caught out by something in the first week of the following month

Every Sunday I spend 15 mins looking at the ten days ahead, what needs to be done eg buy cards/presents, go to post office, house stuff to organise, school stuff then assign to a particular day (eg I can only go to post office a couple of days each week). That's the point when I would pick up the MOT from the monthly plan and action it. I also do the weekly menu plan in this 15 mins. Ten days ahead because then you don't get caught out by something on the week on Monday!

Then every evening a quick check of what's coming up the next day to make sure it's in place eg put something in school bag.

All of those days/times are ones that work for me - I do the daily one when I'm making a cup of tea after work.

I'm the same! I can be really well planned out when focused on a particular thing, it all gets written down in the diary and worked out meticulously, but ask me to tell you about the details the next week (without my notes) and I can't remember a thing. Itjust doesn't get committed to memory if i know its written down. Same goes with the budget - we have one, but unless I've got it out deliberately I couldn't tell you about it. Which means I think I need a better system to budget on the fly..

Me! I am a planner. Disorganised people and people that are always running late fuck me right off!

@RidingMyBike menu planning is the one thing I've never been good at, but as I'm doing the low carb boot camp, I'm having to get down to it for the next 8 weeks, hopefully that'll set me straight!

Not in the same way you described but yes! I love planning and organising 😁

I've already filled in my Christmas gift app for this year and over 60% of the gifts purchased! 🙌 as well as 90% of the gifts we're giving for birthdays this year purchased. I want a trip to Disneyland Paris next January so I'm cracking in with my savings schedule and packing list already 😂

@amigababy I have a mega list of meals/recipes that I pull the menu plan from which helps as it feels like less thinking actually needed.

I've divided it up by ease of cooking so one section for meals that work well for after school club days when time is short, or meals I can get in the slow cooker when WFH.

I think a lot of it comes down to personality type. I'm just not this way inclined, i "can" be organised when I have to, like for work, but it doesn't come easily to me. I definitely don't see the year laid out visually like that, not at all.

My boss always talks about January being a long month because we get paid early in December and I just think - well save the January money for January

😁don't you come on here being so logical!

I get this, and I piss myself right off too, but no matter how many lists I may make or how much earlier I get up, somehow I still struggle to be organised/arrive places on time. I know it annoys others so try really hard, but still spend most of my life apologising. There are many of us around unfortunately, which is why class WhatsApp groups are a godsend.

Watching this thread for tips and to daydream about how life could be!

The only benefit is that I am completely unfazed by changes of plan/minor crises, and can be really quite useful to have around when things don't go to plan.

Can I please ask you though, what is it that makes it difficult to be somewhere on time? Not goady - I am really interested in this. What happens between say, the alarm going off, getting ready and leaving in time to be somewhere? For me, work starts at 8. I need to leave at 7:30. So I set an alarm for 6:30, gives me 1hr to get ready. What happens in that time to disorganised people that they can't leave on time? Distractions?

Yes scalottia my friend says her time managing not great. Annoying waiting on them. She has got better. Lists are good. Calendars etc. My colleague a pa so organised same at home

Yes I put everything on calendar and have lists, it's just a small effort and means a huge deal.. my life isn't chaotic as a result.

I can go with the flow, as long as I know roughly when the flow will start, what time it's expected to finish and whether there'll be food provided.

Google calendar. Set up events with set reminders. Invite guests, and let them receive reminders.

I'm an organiser and a doer not a planner.

So on Saturday our washing machine broke. I spent the day investigating and trying fixes. Decided that given its age and the likely problem I was declaring it dead. Ordered a new one the same day. It's going to be a week so I have done a quick recce to check if we can cope with enough clean stuff until then (we can) and set up an overflow laundry bin in the spare room so dirty stuff does not pile up in the bedroom and depress me.

If it was up to Mr Monkey he would still be planning to go to John Lewis sometime next weekend to ask the sales assistant about the top 5 best washing machines.

The downside of this is I can try and fix things too quickly and either bodge the job or spend too much money because I cannot stand to let things stay undone.

Scallotia: Having grown up with a mum who was perpetually late for everything the problem seemed to be:

Assuming journey to school/work would be most straightforward possible, unrealistically fast. So any delay in journey would mean we'd be late. So effectively we were late leaving the house.

Underestimating time taken to get up and ready to leave house eg not factoring in time to make breakfast, clear it away, or go upstairs and brush teeth afterwards. Not factoring in time to get kids into coats and shoes.

Not getting stuff ready the night before so last minute flurry of bag packing and lunch making.

Whereas I know that it takes me an hour to get up and leave the house on my own.
If I have DD with me it's at least 90 minutes.
Both of those are with everything ready the night before.

My Mum was astounded when she asked how often DD was late for school and I said she was always early. She can't seem to compute that she could have done things differently to get us there on time!

Million dollar question right there. I am not sure. I am not always late, and having kids, especially my son for some reason, has made me worse, no doubt. As has Covid, because I got out of ingrained routines.

To be honest, I tick a lot of boxes for adult ADHD, so that could be it. Time blindness is a recognised symptom, and I do have a bit of that. I do sometimes work to the time I have to be somewhere and not really factor in travel time, say. Or I might leave enough time, but suddenly decide I have time to do something random, like put a wash on, or fill the dishwasher. Something useful generally, but not always urgent.

I am better with absolute deadlines - like theatre start times, flights or work meetings and less good with more flexible deadlines like meeting a group (not one person) for dinner say, or arriving absolutely on time for work (I do work late anyway often, so it isn't as much of an issue as it might be).

It is a bit rubbish though, and I am working on it.

Million dollar question right there. I am not sure. I am not always late, and having kids, especially my son for some reason, has made me worse, no doubt. As has Covid, because I got out of ingrained routines.

To be honest, I tick a lot of boxes for adult ADHD, so that could be it. Time blindness is a recognised symptom, and I do have a bit of that. I do sometimes work to the time I have to be somewhere and not really factor in travel time, say. Or I might leave enough time, but suddenly decide I have time to do something random, like put a wash on, or fill the dishwasher. Something useful generally, but not always urgent.

I am better with absolute deadlines - like theatre start times, flights or work meetings and less good with more flexible deadlines like meeting a group (not one person) for dinner say, or arriving absolutely on time for work (I do work late anyway often, so it isn't as much of an issue as it might be).

It is a bit rubbish though, and I am working on it.

Million dollar question right there. I am not sure. I am not always late, and having kids, especially my son for some reason, has made me worse, no doubt. As has Covid, because I got out of ingrained routines.

To be honest, I tick a lot of boxes for adult ADHD, so that could be it. Time blindness is a recognised symptom, and I do have a bit of that. I do sometimes work to the time I have to be somewhere and not really factor in travel time, say. Or I might leave enough time, but suddenly decide I have time to do something random, like put a wash on, or fill the dishwasher. Something useful generally, but not always urgent.

I am better with absolute deadlines - like theatre start times, flights or work meetings and less good with more flexible deadlines like meeting a group (not one person) for dinner say, or arriving absolutely on time for work (I do work late anyway often, so it isn't as much of an issue as it might be).

It is a bit rubbish though, and I am working on it.

Million dollar question right there. I am not sure. I am not always late, and having kids, especially my son for some reason, has made me worse, no doubt. As has Covid, because I got out of ingrained routines.

To be honest, I tick a lot of boxes for adult ADHD, so that could be it. Time blindness is a recognised symptom, and I do have a bit of that. I do sometimes work to the time I have to be somewhere and not really factor in travel time, say. Or I might leave enough time, but suddenly decide I have time to do something random, like put a wash on, or fill the dishwasher. Something useful generally, but not always urgent.

I am better with absolute deadlines - like theatre start times, flights or work meetings and less good with more flexible deadlines like meeting a group (not one person) for dinner say, or arriving absolutely on time for work (I do work late anyway often, so it isn't as much of an issue as it might be).

It is a bit rubbish though, and I am working on it.

Thanks @RidingMyBike that is really interesting. It's also interesting how different we all are. I always factor in extra time for everything. I also organise all of my work/school stuff the night before so that I know It's ready. I know it takes longer to put on my winter boots for example (outdoor job - lots of laces!) than the summer shoes. It might only take 2 extra minutes, but then you have to put on the coat etc too. It's just stuff that I know takes longer so I plan for longer.

However, being a planner and very organised is sometimes a curse, it's difficult sometimes to simply relax.

Thanks for the response 🙂 I would find it stressful to put on a load of laundry or unpack the dishwasher if I was leaving the house to be somewhere, because I would be worried that it would make me late. Amazing how different we all are.

I'm a PA it's my job to be organised and organise others. I have lists and everything filed in folders in my email, tabs in my notebook. Folders set up on OneDrive for each thing.

I plan to the last detail. I know how long it should take to get to the airport etc. from my location, from my boss's house. I colour code my calendar (they match the tabs in my notebook).

When I go on holiday I have a list of what taking. The one time I didn't I forgot my hairbrush.