Planning Session

I am a planner. Sometimes.

I am also a disorganized crazy person. Most of the time.

When it comes to big projects, I tend to plan every last detail. For instance, I am moving during the month of March, and I have already put together two pages of lists, notes, and timelines for what needs to be done. Since I still have about a month, I have no doubt that this list will get considerably longer before the move even starts.

Any time I take a trip, I work out as many of the details as possible well ahead of time. Rides to and from airports, who I’m eating lunch with each day, how I’ll get around, maps as necessary -- even my upcoming trip to Rapid City, where I could probably just play it by ear from the moment my plane hits the ground, is mostly planned.

I definitely have an exact idea of how I want things to go before the trip/project starts. However, this is me, so there’s usually some degree of chaos involved and I don’t generally freak out when my plans aren’t followed exactly.

My day-to-day life does NOT reflect my big-project life. I am a messy person, first of all. Anyone who walks into my apartment can attest to the fact that my housekeeping skills don’t match the usual Type-A personality that engineers are known for. I don’t plan my meals or evenings ahead of time, and when I’m staying in town I rarely have any idea about what I’m doing during a weekend until it’s over.

My shotgun approach to homework was similar (and something at least one professor preached against on a weekly basis). And for that matter, I really shouldn’t even go near my approach to finding a job after graduation. (Yeah, I was the bane of the Career Center for awhile there.)

I can’t really complain. Things tend to work out, and there’s something to be said for spontaneity. It definitely keeps life interesting and leads to a lot more stories.

However, this is where I’m running into focus issues. Planning is fine -- execution is starting to cause issues.

Maybe I just need to rid my apartment of shiny objects. Can’t hurt.