Are you a planner or a freewheeler?

I'm an extreme planner to the point that I have lots of empty days because I take so long planning the few busy ones.

I prefer to plan . My mother was right !

A couple of my friends really stress me out with their sudden ideas :

One will phone me "I'm at the till did you want anything from the supermarket ?"
I ask her the day before I plan a shop .

Or at 6.00 am "Are you coming down today so we can do so and so ?"
This is accompanied with some pressure .

I have to be an organised freewheeler!! Whilst I will make plans, perhaps to take friends to the coast, they all know that I will have worked out things, got all the things ready but it has to be DOB - not not date of birth, but how bad my back is. So they know that if it is very bad and I cannot walk or do anything I will ring them by 8.30am to say that have to cancel. It has also been very annoying as things like visiting NT places or gardens or any shows etc, with the covid situation ,meant that I either paid for a ticket and at the last moment couldnt go , or didnt get an advanced ticket and no places available on the day. I used to be very organised buying advanced tickets to Great Yorkshire Show etc and of course it was cheaper that way. I have always been organised about appointment times etc putting them in diary and also on the calendar. When home with a family we used to have different coloured pens to show who was where when. |Now life is more frustrating in general, but by choice I am a freewheeler, so whilst I stick to such as hospital appointments, once the basic cleaning of self and clothes are dealt with, then doing something I enjoy whilst I am in less pain is my choice. I take little notice of the weather forecast, but if the day looks good, any indoor jobs can wait and I will try and make the most of the decent day.

I’m in the middle.
Like to have things planned and to look forward to but love a free day.
Never bored can always fill an empty day with hobbies and crafts.

I'm a freewheeler, MrA is a planner. I hate to have too many commitments, it would make me feel tied down. MrA likes to plan everything, so we have the best of both worlds. Neither of us feels the need to be always out and about seeing people though - we are quite happy most of time being busy in our own little world.

AskAlice

*Theexwife*, I'm the same. Working life was always strictly organised, busy and stressful at times. I'm finding over the last few years that if I have a definite appointment in my diary, even an enjoyable day out, I get a bit stressed in the build-up to it. I'm very much a "let's see what I feel like doing on the day" type of person now...

We do have regular childcare arrangements every week, but those are at our own home so I feel more relaxed about those.

I too get stressed when something is coming up ... Good or Bad! and I am definitely a see how I feel on the day person due to some anxiety feelings over certain health things I am dealing with

Reading through its clear that many of us like to have the option of doing or just being. I love to sit and daydream or watch the world go by, it's a treat after a busy lifetime isn't it. But can it go too far? We (OH and I) seem to have cut ties, given up commitments, do whatever makes life easy so that we can be freewheelers and now, probably triggered by lockdown, we've lost the knack of committing to anything. I remember the days as a young working mum when I didn't have time to think let alone sit and stare. Couldn't wait to retire. If only I knew then...

I'm a mixture. I like to know that travel arrangements etc for holidays are planned well before time, but am loose on activities while there. In other times I enjoy having nothing planned so I can be spontaneous. Especially when I had to stick to quite rigid timetables in earlier life I never forgot the essence of W H Davies' poem 'Leisure'. I once had an experience with a friend who found it impossible to just 'be' at any time. We'd climbed up a hill to a magnificent view. I wanted to stop, soak up the view and just 'be' for a while, he had achieved the aim of climbing the hill and after a cursory glance around wanted to immediately descend. We compromised and enjoyed the view, the quiet and freshest air ever for a short time

I have a fullish diary of exhibitions and events going into the future but I always keep days where I have absolutely nothing to do.. those are days for resting and dreaming

I'm definitely a planner but daily find myself leaning more and more towards being a freewhweeler. I do so love my lunches with different people but lately a joy comes over me when I have a couple of free days in my diary. I think this is really my need/desire to get stuck in in the garden but so often recently the weather has quashed that plan. I could resort to the domestic arts but....hey....steady. I'm not that desperate. I find it essential to run a diary in order to accommodate others availability as well as having to advance book eateries, travel etc. I guess a healthy balance is right for me but I do feel things are changing.

A mixture of both. I make lists, but hate to have a quiet week disrupted. Then again I will happily leave what I am doing if someone unexpected calls or I’m ask out for a coffee etc.
mercurial I think

When I said I was always doing something I didn’t necessarily mean housework or other chores. I meant not just sitting there with nothing to do. I could be knitting, reading, surfing the net, for instance.

My parents used to say you have plenty of time to rest sleep etc when you are gone. I was quite rebellious but I listened to them as I have always worked hard.
Since retirement and giving up a lot of time helping with GC. I am always busy doing something never bored but on my terms not someone else’s.
If there is a holiday or weekend etc to prepare for I just do it. I don’t waste time I just get on with what’s got to be done but now time tables do irritate me. They literally ruled our life when running our business I have no patience for them now not at all.

Like M0nica, I am always doing something. I have a few regular commitments, but am happy taking free days as they come, and I'm never bored.

I do resent being messed about though - if something is in the diary and there is a last-minute cancellation I really don't like it, as the odds are that I have had to move things or turn things down in order to out it there in the first place. I've found that since Covid many people are willing to cry off things without a backward glance, and it drives me mad.

I tink I come slap in the middle. part planned part free wheeling. I would, however always be doing something. I am not someone who can sit down and relax doing nothing (unless I am ill or very tired). Fidgety Phil who can;t sit still - that's me.

Planners: is it a case of not liking an empty day or fitting as much in as possible?

I have so many things I want to do hobbies, socialising etc (and a pile of stuff I have to do) and it seems each time I cross something off my diary another two things get added on!

I’m not complaining but I remember one friend asking if I’d be bored on retirement and my retort was I’ve never been bored in my life, shan’t be starting now!

It’s true what they say, if you want something done, ask a busy person! My plans for the day can change in an instant if they have to, it simply means a reschedule rather than cancellation.

I have more freewheeling days these days, and I love it.

I'm a freewheeler, excepting when I have to pack for an away trip, then I have a notebook and pen by my bedside and make a list in the run up to the trip, to pack from.

I have only one firm commitment a week, a one hour exercise class, and on that day I decline all other invites, declaring "It's my Pilates day" 😁

I m not keen on spontaneity I like to have things planned and know what I m doing when I wake up I get completely fazed if I have a empty day and flap around doing nothing and getting nowhere
So no I m not a freelancer I like structure or else I just waste the day

I am a freewheeler when possible, because I don't like being told what to do at any time of day or night. I have been anti-authority my whole life, even if the authority is a clock or a calendar - dislike them both. My best friend is exactly the opposite. She plans out five years at a time !

I'm still working but if I wasn't I'd be more in the "what shall I do today" camp. So basically a freewheeler.

I love empty days. Waking up and knowing the day is for me to do just what I want with no time restraints.
I sit with my morning cup of tea and decide what I will do next.
Unfortunately my plans don't seem to include housework so I have to, reluctantly, fit it in usually on a wet day.

Theexwife, I'm the same. Working life was always strictly organised, busy and stressful at times. I'm finding over the last few years that if I have a definite appointment in my diary, even an enjoyable day out, I get a bit stressed in the build-up to it. I'm very much a "let's see what I feel like doing on the day" type of person now...

We do have regular childcare arrangements every week, but those are at our own home so I feel more relaxed about those.

I’m def a bit of both with an emphasis on spontaneity.