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?
$299?! too bad, i was looking forward to seeing my assesment.
Posted by: amber | September 28, 2007 at 08:23 AM
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 !
Posted by: Jon King | October 01, 2007 at 03:33 PM
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
Posted by: Lorie Marrero | October 01, 2007 at 04:31 PM
wow that is very detailed and something i would definitely consider.
Posted by: Israel | October 16, 2007 at 10:20 PM
thanks you
Posted by: diyet | August 21, 2008 at 03:03 PM
Great post. I like to think about it in terms of cookies now. I have always called it Marathoner or Sprinter. I'm like you - a total marathoner. When I do laundry, I do it all in one day. Makes it very hard to do easy tracking activities and regular maintenance so I get on myself to do a little each day.
This year I'm trying to track mileage for car. Last year I back-tracked and did it all in one day. Accountant said the IRS doesn't like google maps as much as it likes to see odometer miles.
Thanks for the post.
Posted by: allison carter | February 25, 2009 at 12:16 PM
I'm a mix of both.
I process paperwork (invoices, insurance certs, check writing) in batches.
I check my email continuously.
Posted by: Bridget Willard | February 25, 2010 at 12:34 PM