Jananas

People have given me a lot of flack for being a planner. Let’s use Christmas shopping as an example. I hate the big, crazy crowds and the panic that comes from trying to get everything done last minute. Instead, I plan ahead and get the majority of my shopping done in advance. I’m enough of a natural planner that I can think far enough ahead to see this dilemma (crowds and time pressure induce my anxiety) to think of an alternative, however I see this planning as a coping mechanism.

It allows me to not deal with the stress and craziness, because I puttered away at it at my own slow pace months before. And yes, there will always be some last minute shenanigans but for me this copying mechanism helps minimize them so that they are less stress inducing when they do happen.

To take an extreme example, this past Christmas I had 98% of my shopping finished by the end of September. My train of thought was that I would be traveling from the beginning of October until mid-December. When I got home it would take me a little time to get things put away, deal with house stuff, get adjusted, run errands, etc. Which doesn’t leave much time for shopping (or for shipping of stuff ordered online!). So I just dealt with it ahead of time.

Planning is my coping mechanism so that I feel less stressed out by all the little details when the time comes.

What coping mechanisms do you use and for what situations?