How Baking Cookies Relates to Procrastination

Today I got the results of doing the Birkman Assessment with my friends at www.about-u.com ... It is a very interesting profile.  I enjoyed the experience and the information is very useful.  It tells you what you personally need to be fulfilled and less stressed in life, and the results do not change over time--it is very consistently about your ingrained tendencies and needs.  I am going to have my kids take it (ages 12 and 14)-- I wish that I had received this information about myself at that age so I could have made different decisions about my coursework and other choices (although I am happy about where I ended up).

Anyway, something in my report made me think about this concept I have realized over the years.  In computer data processing, there are batch processes and there are continuous processes... stay with me for a second... for example, if a server collects a bunch of e-mails over a few hours and sends them all out at once, that is batching.  But if the server sends out each e-mail right as it comes in, that is continuous processing.  I think that people are like this too. 

I am a Batch Processor.  In general, I like to save up similar things and do them all together at once... it's the assembly line concept. It's efficient, like the reason that we bake 12 cookies at once instead of baking 1 cookie 12 times.

Other people in my life are Continuous Processors-- they don't like to save up stuff and do it all together, they would rather deal with it as it comes.

Both ways of being have their advantages, since Continuous Processors are less likely to procrastinate, for example!  Anyway, it's something to think about!  What style do you have?  Could some things in your life be more efficient or effective doing it the other way?

Comments

[amber]

$299?! too bad, i was looking forward to seeing my assesment.

[Jon King]

Very insightful. In thinking through my own situation, I got to wondering if there is an age or life stages element in play here. For instance, in thinking through how I "work" verse my kids... I suspect my kids are continual (doing just enough daily to check things off the chore list) where as I as an adult, have to cram things into small open windows of opportunities... like any given Saturday.

Great topic... thanks for bringing it up !

[Lorie Marrero]

Regarding Amber's comment about "$299":

The Birkman assessment is not just a quickie internet quiz-- it gets interpreted to you by a trained person and it takes almost a couple of hours to go over. It's a little different than other things people might have taken before that are self-scoring and fast. Sorry to disappoint anyone about the cost of it... and by the way, I have no personal financial stake in this assessment.

Thanks,
Lorie

[Israel]

wow that is very detailed and something i would definitely consider.