I've decided my new year resolution is to actually get up and do something. I am really good at procrastination (it took me half an hour to get
started on this post), but I get to the end of each week wondering what I've done with my time. 2020 has made this even more apparent as I
'should' have had far more time to get stuff done.
I'm starting with some basic time management, actually organising my after-work activities into fixed timeslots that I can manage. I have about
half a dozen different projects on the go. Obviously car building is one, but I have guitar learning, child-rearing, and I guess getting rid of the
beer gut should be there too.
Just focusing on the car building initially, if I aim to allocate a certain amount of time to it, is it better to go for small amounts but every day?
Or a larger amount maybe once or twice a week? A small amount would be at least an hour, a large amount would be the entire evening or a weekend
morning/afternoon.
Is there anything anyone can suggest to support this approach? I'm tempted to make a 'kick up the butt' machine just to make sure I
stick to it...
[Edited on 2/1/21 by Slimy38]
Personally, I had too many car projects so I sold on all but one. I write all the jobs to do in a spreadsheet, number them in order of importance. Every evening I pick a small manageable task out of the list go out and complete it and then stop. I find this done consistently keeps motivation up and things moving along.
I have similar ‘out of work’ time aims as you for the New Year.
For car building, I’ve found 1-1.5hrs in the evening is achievable for smaller jobs/planning next steps without overly tiring myself/neglecting the
other stuff. I don’t do this every evening, but 2 or 3 a week generally.
I then do a longer session of 2-3hrs (or occasionally more) at the weekend, when I can tackle bigger jobs that don’t fit into an evening hour, or are
noisy! Some jobs I prefer to get done in one hit, rather than splitting up into smaller sessions.
I am also learning the guitar, (well sometimes badly!) but have let that slip, and keep saying ill do an extra 1/2 hour tomorrow...
I have for many many years have written a "to do list" and add things constantly, and its very satisfying, crossing out the done jobs, and
perhaps weekly rewrite a new list
Some jobs on the list seem to stay on the list, and at the top, clear out the loft, has remained at the top for years! and i always have an excuse not
to do it, as in the summer its too hot up there, and the winter too cold etc....
The good thing about the list, as theres always those silly little jobs that get put on the back burner, but some days its nice to do a few and put a
line through
Thankfully my Kids left home years ago, and at 44/39 i seem to get a lot of jobs at there places, mainly my Daughters, and those go on the list too
I still have a desire to rebuild a motorbike, not sure what, but something to do as hobby, and although ive not ridden anything for 40 years, and
have no plans to
Ive rejoined my local RC plane club, and now have three planes, and although not flown in 9 years, yesterdays flights, first in 9 years, i was very
happy with, its a bit like the riding a bike thing, and the plane will fly again, so thats considered a successful result
Im half way through building an F86 Sabre, in 1/7 semi scale, edf, but have no plans to fly it until the weather is nice
I have also considered some small scale wood turning projects, but again, its outlay, and as im shielding, have no income coming in yet, or a Job,
just living on savings etc, and what with the £500 plus ive invested in RC, cant really justify the costs
Thanks everyone, there's some good thoughts there. I think a job list is a good first step, I do wonder whether the procrastination partly starts
from not seeing results. I'd like to think I'm not one of the modern generation that craves instant gratification, but having just one job
of 'finish the car' isn't exactly motivational either.
Time to start on the spreadsheet I think. I'm going to put it on my phone so I can't escape from it or hide from it.
When i had my 7 in the garage, i had a white board on the wall, with any car related "to do" things as well.
The white board on the garage wall was without doubt the best motivational tool in the box, or should i say on the wall.
Longer periods can be more productive. I was lucky when building mine that part of my role as a Service Engineer, including periods of standby where I was paid to be at home, rested in case I was called out at night/weekends. Hence I could get good time on the car during the day.
Prioritise on your health.
What works for me is routine.
Decide on what you want to do each day for 1 hour (lunchtime is good) : run, walk, cycle, swim AND STICK TO IT REGARDLESS OF THE WEATHER.
You just need the appropriate clothing.
The hardest part is getting ready and leaving the house, it is not the exercise itself as you will find as you get fitter.
I used to procrastinate but now I can't be bothered.
quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
Prioritise on your health.
What works for me is routine.
Decide on what you want to do each day for 1 hour (lunchtime is good) : run, walk, cycle, swim AND STICK TO IT REGARDLESS OF THE WEATHER.
You just need the appropriate clothing.
The hardest part is getting ready and leaving the house, it is not the exercise itself as you will find as you get fitter.
I used to procrastinate but now I can't be bothered.
My current priority is to lose weight - again. Three years ago I was officially weighed at a hospital (long story) and I was way overweight. Over the
next 6 months I managed to lose about 4 stone/27kg and felt a lot better for it. Unfortunately the combination of reverting to poor eating habits,
side-effects of medication and inactivity due to lockdown & boredom has resulted in me regaining quite a bit of weight. My fault, no one
else's.
Now I have to start again... 
[Edited on 3/1/21 by David Jenkins]
I can't do projects on set time slots, that just kills the spontaneous nature and feeling of enjoyment. Just writing plans and lists seems to do it for me.
Although I don't have one yet. An elctric assist bike seems to be a very popular way for people to keep fit.
I have an indoor bike but it's boring, bulky, heavy and too hot to use and is going up for sale.
You can buy a half decent mountain bike second hand for £25 - 40, i know cos I bought 4 of them from gumtree. One was only 6 months old and needed
only a replacement pedal.
What's the point of the electric assist if you're looking at using it for fitness?
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
What's the point of the electric assist if you're looking at using it for fitness?
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
What's the point of the electric assist if you're looking at using it for fitness?
My girlfriend is pretty organised (fortunately), I'm a frikkin disaster zone.
She's a Transformation Manager (nothing to do with robots in disguise) for her job and helps re-organise multi-billion global businesses.
One of the tools she uses for 'To Do' lists is Trello boards- much better than Excel. You can do it on your PC and there's an app for
your phone. You can share boards with others etc. etc. it's a really useful collaborative tool.
We have Trello boards for the house refurbishment, just add jobs as I think of them under the different headings: spare room, outside, en-suite,
garden etc. etc.
In each room we're doing we use post-its on the windows (some will recognise this technique from Agile/Sprint systems at work) to list the jobs
in order they need doing. It's so nice moving them to the 'done' column!
We also use Trello to help organise the Savate kickboxing federation we help run. There's a page all the exec can access to see their jobs and so
when you tick them off everyone can see it's done.
Hope that is of some use!
James
I can empathise, although it's not just straightforward procrastination with me - I want to do things right first time, and not to do something -
get it wrong - then have to spend time/money sorting it out. So i often don't take on a job until i've researched it LOTS - which takes
time!
I have used a to-do list mainly to try and plan the dependencies - to avoid going over steps which repeat (for example - not taking the bodywork on
and off the car repeatedly, which itself takes time, before it's finally fixed in place) and therefore waste time. Equally I try to group jobs
together - so I am not packing/unpacking tools repeatedly for example. Neither work perfectly - but I think it's worth the planning time to try
and make the best use of the time you have!
In terms of bundling up the working time - I've tried a few different strategies over the last 7 and a half years.
Initially I would put aside Sunday morning, and just work on the car then. Obviously you only see progress once a week, and you can easily loose a few
weeks - just by having something immovable come up. On the plus side, my car wasn't at my house - so it was only 1 lot of travel to go and work
on it, rather than spending a lot of travel time for not a lot of work time. The same applies to tools which need unpacking/setting up (e.g. to grind
something I have to take my workmate out onto the drive, run the extension cable out, get the angle grinder out, etc, etc...
When I eventually got the car home I thought i'd pop out in the evenings/weekends and chip away a bit at a time - but it's hard to carve out
time from the day, especially when I am not free until maybe 8pm, trying to get the kids to bed . So I do have bursts where I get up early (say
4/4:30am) and do perhaps 2hrs as a block - which doesn't work for noisy jobs!
I do also try and work in adhoc time, even just 30 mins, in the garage to get something done - which is where the 'to do' list is good,
because I can look up a specific task to get done. But i never find it the most effective way - and it's easy to start something, then leave it
in the vice or on the bench and it get forgotten about....
Worth a read.
I suffer with the same procrastination for perfection:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55264224
When I was building my car I came to a complete stop once or twice, mostly because I couldn't see any progress. There was a time where the bare
chassis sat untouched for many, many months due to me ending up in a state of inertia. This is disheartening.
In the end I pushed myself to go out into the garage as often as possible and just do something, no matter how trivial or out of sequence it
was. Maybe it was just to file something into shape, or tidying up a weld that didn't look good enough, or simply cleaning up a mess around the
work area so that the next job could start. Each task may have taken just 30 minutes. As time went by I could see that progress was being made, even
if it was just a box full of completed items ready to fit to the car.
It also helped to write all the tasks on a large sheet of card - big item headings, with the sub-tasks underneath - and I crossed them out as they
were done. Again, as time went on I could see that the seemingly endless and undefined list of tasks was being marked as done, and it was possible to
see that completion actually was possible. Of course, new tasks got added to the sheet as they popped up, but fewer and fewer at time went on.
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
Thanks everyone, there's some good thoughts there. I think a job list is a good first step, I do wonder whether the procrastination partly starts from not seeing results. I'd like to think I'm not one of the modern generation that craves instant gratification, but having just one job of 'finish the car' isn't exactly motivational either.
Time to start on the spreadsheet I think. I'm going to put it on my phone so I can't escape from it or hide from it.
Just like David's response, sometimes, a healthy, get out of the garage retort, is a blessing, It took me two years exactly from start, and weld
up my the chassis, to MOT on my SCRATCH BUILT book Locost, and in that time with a full time job, i also installed a whole new kitchen, that
included new walls ceiling and floor, and a new patio, many others built a scratch built car in a lot less time than me !!
I am sorry if this is harsh, and ive said it before, but, anyone who has spent more than a couple of years building a "Kit car" as in a box
of bits delivered to there door, in boxs and a chassis, and just need bolting together, i dont think this car building is really for you, and it will
NEVER be on the road, or even built,
My Neighbour, who i have mentioned before, built a pilgrim cobra, from boxs etc, in a little over 6 months, he was an office desk jockey, and had
never even owned a socket set or any decent tools, and apart from me helping, well more like advising! rebuilding the Rover v8 lump, he had never even
taken a plug apart !!!
The Physical help i gave was moving and lifting the chassis about in his single garage , helping fit the engine and gearbox, he did evrything else on
his own, or with his wife, as in positioning the body work,
His car passed SVA first time, and i am quite astounded at what he achieved, with less than zero knowledge
just saying, and hopefully some on here will realize, this car building lark, is not for them
steve
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
I'd advise against a speardsheet, I do those all day.
Just have an A4 pad on the go, or a whiteboard as mentioend else it will be more trouble to fire up the speradsheet than to record quick win tasks, that are just as satisfying to write on and cross off shortly after
quote:
Originally posted by indykid
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
What's the point of the electric assist if you're looking at using it for fitness?
Why start running 5k when you're training for a marathon?
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
I'd advise against a speardsheet, I do those all day.
Just have an A4 pad on the go, or a whiteboard as mentioend else it will be more trouble to fire up the speradsheet than to record quick win tasks, that are just as satisfying to write on and cross off shortly after
I'm the opposite. An A4 pad will just disappear into nowhere, or the wife will use it for shopping lists, or the kids will use it for colouring in, etc. At least a spreadsheet can sit in my phone and I can update it wherever I am.
It's working so far, although I forgot to leave a column for 'compensating for lack of sleep'... turns out I'd not taken into account my insomnia... which probably comes from bad diet and exercise... which is limited by me procrastinating about it... and round and round I go...
quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
I'd advise against a speardsheet, I do those all day.
Just have an A4 pad on the go, or a whiteboard as mentioend else it will be more trouble to fire up the speradsheet than to record quick win tasks, that are just as satisfying to write on and cross off shortly after
I'm the opposite. An A4 pad will just disappear into nowhere, or the wife will use it for shopping lists, or the kids will use it for colouring in, etc. At least a spreadsheet can sit in my phone and I can update it wherever I am.
It's working so far, although I forgot to leave a column for 'compensating for lack of sleep'... turns out I'd not taken into account my insomnia... which probably comes from bad diet and exercise... which is limited by me procrastinating about it... and round and round I go...
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
quote:
Originally posted by indykid
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
What's the point of the electric assist if you're looking at using it for fitness?
Why start running 5k when you're training for a marathon?
Apples and oranges. Electric assist just makes you think you ran the 5k, when you actually ran 2k. It's really just a (very expensive) crutch for the ego
Go run (ride) the 2k on your cheap bike and know you did it alone.
Meh, maybe it's just me. I can see it for a cargo bike or D similar.
[Edited on 4/1/21 by coyoteboy]
I've completed a few big projects since 2010 including designing and building a couple of brand new cars.
I find a key is to make a list of jobs that you want to do next (maybe 10 items) and then try to do one job a day, then cross that job off the list.
Even if it's a tiny job crossing it off is satisfying, then as the list gets slowly crossed off it shows you the real progress you are making.
Then when it's all done you have th satisfaction of wiping the board and completing the list. Then you write a new list.
It's good because it doesn't force you to have a certain amount of time free, if you only have 10 minutes free you can just get one of the
small jobs done, if you have 1/2 a day you can tackle a big task. But you are always making progress.
Procrastination is a real beast to tackle. Based on my own experience, when you're juggling multiple projects, consistency is key. For something
like car building, which requires regular hands-on engagement, I'd suggest smaller chunks every day or every other day. This way, it becomes a
habit, and you won't feel overwhelmed.
One thing that's helped me stay on top of my tasks is using this productivity tracking tool for work. It
tracks the time I spend on various tasks and then sends me automated reports showing my efficiency and productivity. Based on those insights,
I've been able to refine my workflow process.
[Edited on 29/9/23 by erwe]