Getting ready to take a bit of a break this week, I caught myself staring at my thrown-together heap of clothing, aka my Pre-Packing Pile, and realized I’m a tiny bit of a procrastinator. It is rare that I start a task and complete it in one sitting. Whether I call it struggling with staying focused or perpetual multi-tasking, I’m ready to own this inclination of mine. I do things in stages. I AM A STAGER. Phew, it feels good to say it out loud!
Based on my approach to taking apart my December holiday decorations (horrifying to members of The Together Team), I’m confident that staging is a tried-and-true approach that works for me.
Maia’s Pre-Packing Pile
I’ve realized I kind of stage everything!
- Trip packing. I assemble things in piles around the house days prior. Tubs here, clothes there.
- Blog writing. I usually do a sloppy pre-write the day before, and plop in quotes and pictures later on.
- Meeting planning. Always, always get the agenda structure in place and deal with content later.
- Cooking and baking. I make the dough the day before and the filling the day of! P.S. These cookies!
- Book writing. I break up chapters, focus on word count, and batch-process different types of work.
- Teaching prep. I upload my content to Nearpod a few days before, then set up the slides a day later.
So, the headline here is I basically never, ever start and finish anything all at once. Why could this be?
- I like variety. Honestly, I get bored very easily, so the quickly shifting gears is helpful to me.
- I am good at breaking down projects into small pieces, which allows me to whittle away at things.
- I get intimidated by starting blank slate. If I am staring down a big task, I get overwhelmed. But to make the dough, draft an agenda, and then assemble the clothes, well, that feels more manageable.
- I like to marinate on things. Seeing something with fresh eyes the next morning helps me create better products.
- I do not like doing things last minute. Well, that is a lie, I used to show up at airports in a frenzy, but I don’t like doing WHOLE TASKS at the last minute.
What about you? Are you a Stager or do you have a different approach?
