Are you a planner or would you characterize yourself as more spontaneous? Do you like to think about things, write them down, have a list to check off? Maybe you just go with the flow, see how you feel in the morning kinda person?
Neither one is right, neither one is wrong. I would like to think of myself as somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I have a plan and sometimes I don’t.
Many plans for 2020 had to be changed or discarded all together. New plans had to be created. Some people faced more anxiety than ever all because they didn’t know how to plan with all the restrictions. For that very reason, I don’t think plans should ever be etched in stone. They need to be flexible at all times. There are just too many factors that we can’t control. Even if there isn’t a pandemic to deal with, we can’t control the weather or the needs/wants of those around us. There will always be parameters we need to work within.
According to Wikipedia,
Planning is the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a desired goal. It is the first and foremost activity to achieve desired results. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as psychological aspects that require conceptual skills. There are even a couple of tests to measure someone’s capability of planning well. As such, planning is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior.
So how does a flexible plan work within an outdoor space? Well, to get the most out of your time and outdoor space you need a plan. You can create zones that are multifunctional. Let’s start with a few simple questions about how you want to use your outdoor space, as you answer these don’t focus on the outdoor space you currently have, just what you would like to have even (if it is eventually):
- Do you want to garden?
- Do you want room for animals (even just 1 dog)?
- Do you want to play games outside?
- Do you want to watch movies outside?
- Do you want to have a fire pit?
- Do you want to cook outside?
- Do you want to eat outside?
- Do you want a swimming pool?
- Do you want a play structure or trampoline?
- Do you want space to exercise, maybe meditate outside?
Once you have the answers to these questions you can move forward with the next part of the plan. If you don’t have the space for what you want, you have a couple choices ~ 1. Save up so you can eventually get what you want; 2. Decide what is most important to you right now (for example a garden to grow healthy food) and find a solution (use pots on your balcony to grow a select group of vegetables and herbs), or; 3. Contact a realtor and get moving!
For the sake of this article, let’s say you have space for a few items on your list and you are happy to make that work.
Next, it will be time to create zones within your outdoor space. But let’s table the discussion for now. This topic will be discussed more in-depth later this month. For now, continue to look over this list and envision you, family and friends using your outdoor space. You will need that vision when we come back to this topic.
To be continued…
