Are you detail-oriented and unorganized? How do you...

[AbbiB]

Are there any other detail-oriented (and creative, and naturally unorganized) people like me (and my son)? I want to know how you approach your writing and general life projects, and how you've functioned in high-school, college, or the workplace. Do any of you have a hard time with things like outlining, summarizing, telling stories without adding unnecessary info, or difficulty planning projects/tasks from the high-priority, over-all picture first, then planning detailed steps after that? I seem to gravitate toward the opposite - I have an idea and very quickly jump to the details of planning and completion, then working my way out to the overall picture. I've learned to outline and organize, but many times I do better with brainstorming notes, and mulling over details, then work my way out to organizing my thoughts.

 

I don't think this is bad, just different. I believe everyone has strengths and a purpose for their personality. But it also takes me a very long time to complete things because I get bogged down with details. Sometimes we need to be rounded out a bit to function better, or at least be able to work with our personality to put it to good use but still communicate well with others. How do you function? If you went to college how well did you do in writing papers?

 

I'm especially curious because my son is very much like me, and I want to help him write and organize his thoughts so he can communicate better, and be more productive with his projects. But I don't want to squash his creativity and detail-oriented mind. He is using Writing with Skill and it's working very well for him, just wondering if there are more ideas.

 

I'm wondering how people process their tasks in life -- such as how you've managed in high-school, college, or the work place, and if there have been things you did you help yourself do better? TIA!