The Eleventh Hour

[Darren]

I've got some theatre tickets for tonight which I bought on a whim, just a few hours before curtain up. Very unusual for me as I'm somebody who generally feels the need to plan everything in good time, and agonise over decision making - I'm not a "go with the flow" person.

I'm actually feeling tension as I write this.

How do you organise yourselves for events, days out, or everyday life. Do you build itineraries for the weekly shop, are you a "grab your coat & go" person?

[Rob McCow]

I do prefer to know about things at least a day in advance. I tend to plan out my day in my head when I wake up in the morning, so any sudden changes can be upsetting or frightening!

The other problem is that I can't plan in advance very well either. There's always things waiting to sabotage any plans I make, so I don't really bother any more! About 1-2 weeks is my limit.

I don't really mind being booked up all the time, but it just means I have to be careful.

[Alex]

I quite like doing things on the spur of the moment, there's been quite a few times where I've been sat at home having a bit of a crap day and then thought, sod it, I'll do something rather than just watch tv or mess around on my pc, and so have headed in to central London and gone and seen a film, a gig, or a play.

Shopping wise I never plan in advance either, half the fun is spotting new things to try, though I've always a rough idea of what I'm low on and need to replenish.

Then again there's nothing like having something booked in advance to look forward too, it can really help if you're having a bit of a rubbish day as well...

[Si Hunt]

I plan everything in advance, and feel never more comfortable than when everything floating round my head is written down on lots of lists so I don't have to remember it. Birthday present lists are assembled in notebooks and studiously updated, and it's not unusual for me to know what we're having for dinner up to ten days in advance.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

I'm somewhere in the middle. Usually, Monday night is pool night with a few mates, so that's always planned in advance, as are any DVD nights we have (like on Sunday just gone). But this evening, I was asked out to the pub by my mate, so I just threw got my wallet and went. I used to go on nights out at short notice when I was a student, but as I've left that social background behind, if I ever go on a night out now it tends to be for birthdays and so on. And again, for days out, they're planned in advance - like tomorrow, I'm going with my friend Gem to (finally) see the Doctor Who exhibition here in Manchester. Looking forward to that, my chance to let my inner child see all the things it wanted to see back in 1997.

[Trudi G]

I was always a very spur of the moment person, and i still am in alot of ways - but when you have a child you tend to have to plan things around them!
Last Friday i called up my mate on the spur of the moment to see if she was free to come round, because i felt like company. I'm also prone to just saying "Come on, lets go to Chessington today" if i wake up in the right frame of mind, and i have the cash to do it.

[Ralph]

I think life is perfect with a combination of routine and spontaneity. I think life needs the basic things in life to be certain but all the fun things should often be done on the spur of the moment!