I read a lot about a lot of different subjects and a LONG time ago I read an article about how people approach projects, noting that there are project people and there are process people.

Let’s first cover the types:

Project people focus on the project as a whole, and usually work to completion of one item before moving on to another item. The satisfaction is derived in a large part from the execution of the project as a whole, and the completion of each project.

Process people focus on individual parts of the process. Satisfaction is derived from doing particular tasks, and completion rarely factors into the equation. Process people often work on multiple projects at the same time, enjoying the doing more than the finishing.

I’m a process person. Oh boy am I a process person. I like to sew. I don’t necessarily like to cut but you have to cut to be able to sew. I don’t like to iron much so there’s a lot of steps I just finger press rather than use the iron. (Side note, this can have some benefits, you’d be surprised). I especially like the planning and designing part of the process. I am working on a BUNCH of quilts at the same time. I love making the first few blocks so that I can see my idea turn into something with real fabric. I enjoy quilting a lot, but you have to actually finish piecing a top to have something to quilt.

My mother was a project person. She would decide to make something (she made clothes rather than quilts), she would buy the supplies and she would finish that item before moving on to the next thing. Every now and then, if she didn’t like how the project was turning out, she might have two things going at once but usually it was one thing at a time and she finished everything.

There was a long time that we did not understand each other at all. I would derive great joy from planning a project, getting the supplies, and starting the project just to have it disappear into a box and never see the light of day again. I felt guilty about this for a long time. Most of my life I would say. I had wasted my money. I had wasted my time. I had nothing to show for it. That’s what everybody would tell me. Then I found this article and I realized that I had derived great joy from the part of the process that I performed. The money was not wasted. The time was not wasted. I didn’t have boxes to check like the project people did, but I was getting better at my chosen hobby, and most importantly, I WAS ENJOYING MYSELF.

What I find MOST fascinating about all of this, is that once I gave myself license to be a process person, and to enjoy the journey rather than the destination, I started to complete things. More things than I ever had before. I stuck with quilting. My mother assumed it was just a phase like the multitude of other hobbies I had tried, but today I’m closing in on 30 years as a serious quilter. I’ve been knitting over 50 years. That’s quite a streak I’d say, and I actually have some sweaters I’ve finished about about 45 pairs of socks. Pretty nifty for a process person.

I will always work on multiple projects at the same time. I will always start something new when I have lots of things in work but that’s OK. I’m a process person. I’m enjoying every minute of my journey, and I’m finishing the things that I really like because I like them, not because I have an obligation. I’m coming into my own as a process person and enjoying the destination.