Meticulous attention to detail.
Obsessive desire for organization and order.
Lists and planning.
Set deadlines and detailed steps.
Mapped out calendars with what to do on what day.
Supplies all categorized and placed where they need to be for easy access.
Even eating and sleeping are scheduled.
I know some crafters who complain that they spend too much of their time fussing over the above. I don’t have a problem with that, in fact, my problem is a LACK of these things. I have to FORCE myself to keep track of my accounting so it doesn’t pile up for me at end of each month (or year). I usually wait until my crafting room becomes a complete disaster straight from a rated R horror film before attempting to create some semblance of cleanliness out of it. I often create what I feel like creating, only to scramble to make the items I realize I am lacking right before a craft show or holiday season.
It’s a problem to a point, and it’s a blessing to a point.
For a few years I was working part time in the apparel section of a big box retail store. I would cringe every time my manager would tell me that they had just hired someone new and “she should be good because she is so obsessive-compulsive with her own closet.” Honestly, while these employees would do a good job making a small bit of the store look organized and clean, their issue was that they often couldn’t handle everything that they were assigned to do in a timely manner.
Me, being the opposite of the OCD employees, could fly though every section of apparel and straighten at a much quicker pace, while simultaneously keeping up on the dressing room and assisting customers. The fact that I didn’t stress over every single pair of pants being perfectly in line, prevented me from falling behind, and I never felt as overwhelmed as my co-workers on our super busy days.
As a business owner, my type B personality comes in handy while I juggle all of the requirements to create, promote, and network for the benefits of my products. I don’t stress as much about blogging, social networks, custom orders, listing, photographs, and my day job because I don’t hone in on the details or worry about everything being perfect before I can throw it out there. In the words of the Nike branders, I just do it.
So if you are more of a type B as well, you might want to think about the benefits that we have. Sure, we have to try a little harder to organize and schedule, but we also don’t have to deal with as much stress over things that don’t really matter in the long run. Often, we can handle a much bigger workload with greater ease. I’m NOT saying that admitting to being unorganized would be a wise thing to proclaim at a job interview, or that you shouldn’t strive to keep things more orderly, but just that there is positive side to every flaw – even that messy craft table.
