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Have you become more 'precise' as you've aged

(49 Posts)
kittylester Mon 11-Aug-25 10:16:11

I have always been a bit slap dash (or, my preference, relaxed) and have become more so as I have got older.

DH, on the other hand, worked in a profession where accuracy was vital. He seems to be becoming more precise as the years go by.

What about you?

Lathyrus3 Mon 11-Aug-25 10:45:41

I prefer to think I am someone who “works to the big picture” and doesn’t get hung up on detail😬

Having said that I have noticed that I have developed a need for certain mugs and cups at particular times of the day - the morning tea mug, the breakfast coffee mug, the afternoon tea mug, the camomile cup and saucer…..
It doesn’t taste the same if I can’t find the right one.

And there I am back into slapdash. Where did I leave that mug?
🙄🤔🤣

BlueBelle Mon 11-Aug-25 10:48:43

No definitly not, slapdash as always start things then find something more interesting very butterfly minded but can be very preside over serious things

Kate1949 Mon 11-Aug-25 10:48:56

No. I'm still slap dash. I'm very much a 'that'll do' type of person.

Lona Mon 11-Aug-25 11:13:25

I’ve always been slap dash but now find I’m getting very (old) particular and set in my ways 😂

Jaxjacky Mon 11-Aug-25 11:18:55

I’m very precise in ‘managing’, insurances, car MOT’s, tax, medical appointments etc.
But actual doings in the house, or leisure I'm still of the what I can get away with mentality.

TillyTrotter Mon 11-Aug-25 11:24:15

Since retirement I like to do things more leisurely. Spread them out . Always make a mental list of what I would like to get done today but the last thing - or the job I least like the sound of - often gets left for tomorrow.
DH is much more precise (drives me nuts sometimes).

Pantglas2 Mon 11-Aug-25 12:04:23

This thread made me smile 😊

I’m with Lathyrus on the mugs…
With Kate and ‘that’ll do’ on more things as I get older
Definitely with Jax on the managing admin
Last but not least, Tilly sums up my day of lists!

SueDonim Mon 11-Aug-25 12:54:43

I think I’ve become more pernickety. I do not think that’s a good thing. 👀

Witzend Mon 11-Aug-25 13:08:37

It would depend in what sphere. I’m probably more precise (aka pedantic!) over language, and I’m a bit of a perfectionist with cooking and knitting, but apart from that I’ve probably got more ‘just CBA’ with age.

knspol Mon 11-Aug-25 13:10:49

I know I became more and more pernickety since retiring many years ago and often nagged my late DH about silly little things. Since he passed away I've realised none of these things were important, wish the penny had dropped earlier.

ViceVersa Mon 11-Aug-25 13:19:05

My profession very much depended on accuracy and precision with words, and I don't think that's diminished with time, but I'm very much 'that'll do' when it comes to many other things, such as housework.

SueDonim Mon 11-Aug-25 13:25:21

I guess it’s about what an individual considers important to them. Due to my dh’s recent ill-health I am now responsible for just about everything in our lives and I do feel a need to keep a tight grip on matters. I fear losing control and ending up in a terrible mess if I let anything go.

Otoh, I can see from where I am sitting recycling that needs to be sorted, laundry that needs folding, weeds that need pulling outside and I have been shrugging my shoulders at all that. I’d better get a move on and do those things now I’ve confessed my slovenliness! grin

Babs03 Mon 11-Aug-25 13:28:01

I will take short cuts if possible to make daily life easier, am in my late sixties with some health problems caring for a husband in his mid seventies who has had a stroke.
So some household chores are done less than thoroughly and I prioritise every day things that need to be done as opposed to things I would once do routinely most days.

JamesandJon33 Mon 11-Aug-25 13:40:20

We have space now, lots of cupboards etc, so I like things put back where they live. DH is rather more slap dash, but always has an excuse.
Quite honestly I am not the greatest housewife, cleaner. It’s much easier when everything is just so….I can get on with my own stuff then.

posset Mon 11-Aug-25 13:56:31

I'm Queen of slap dash - "it'll do" is my mantra!

Oreo Mon 11-Aug-25 14:04:58

Lathyrus3

I prefer to think I am someone who “works to the big picture” and doesn’t get hung up on detail😬

Having said that I have noticed that I have developed a need for certain mugs and cups at particular times of the day - the morning tea mug, the breakfast coffee mug, the afternoon tea mug, the camomile cup and saucer…..
It doesn’t taste the same if I can’t find the right one.

And there I am back into slapdash. Where did I leave that mug?
🙄🤔🤣

Funny you should say that, as I don’t care about having certain things but DP has become very strange about what mug he uses, even saying that particular ones are for tea and others for coffee confused

Oreo Mon 11-Aug-25 14:07:01

I think it may be something to do with control, we can’t always control either things going on around us, at work or anything in the wider world so that controlling small things is helpful.

merlotgran Mon 11-Aug-25 14:09:54

I think I’m a bit of both but being a Gemini I’m allowed to be.
I also have mug rules and you will never catch me drinking coffee out of a mug with Tea written on it. Who does that??
I’m also fanatical about admin. It makes me feel secure and in control to be on top of everything.

I’m laid back about life in general but being too slapdash would probably make me anxious.
I lost a good friend two years ago and she was about as slapdash as you could imagine. I loved her but Boy, she could be exhausting because I found myself constantly ‘thinking for her’ and pre empting her scatty approach to everything we’d arranged to do.

Maybe I’m a bit of a control freak! 😂😂

Oreo Mon 11-Aug-25 14:13:36

Well at least an organised control freak merlotgran😄 which counts for something.

Erica23 Mon 11-Aug-25 14:26:40

I’ve always been fussy, unfortunately. It’s very annoying as it means no one can help me.
I think I must be getting a bit better as we take it in turns now to clean the bathrooms. Of course DH doesn’t do them as thorough as me but I know I’ll be doing them soon enough so I let it go.

Labradora Mon 11-Aug-25 14:30:34

I've definitely got the "mug" thing, persuading myself that tea actually tastes better out of one and coffee out of another.
I'm also "what I can get away with" in the house. OH is a bit of a tidy and clean freak but I've learnt a few tricks of misdirection over the years....
Paperwork ? I'm pretty precise only because not being so seems to create even more work in the end.

Bellanonna Mon 11-Aug-25 15:11:25

I’m with Kate1949 on the “that’ll do” school of thought and with Witzend about language, at times bordering on pedantry. Where cups are concerned it depends on the moment. One cup would have been chosen yesterday and that would not “work” today, so it’s a case of what feels right there and then.

valdavi Mon 11-Aug-25 15:16:33

I do like to put things back where they belong, I'm hopeless at remembering when I left something & can't stand a hunt for lost items.
Other than that my DH & me both definitely slapdash. Admin particularly gets left to the last possible moment or beyond.

Beechnut Mon 11-Aug-25 15:18:33

It’s good to know I’m not on my own over cups and mugs.