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Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Deep in Chaos
Well, my shop is in a state of utter chaos. I'd post a picture, but it's too depressing.
I mentioned last month in the New Wood Rack post that I was overhauling the shop. Well, it has been creeping along, feeling like it will never be finished. I'm only on "Phase 2" and it looks like a tornado went right through the shop.
What I find most disturbing is how unusable the shop is in its current state. It's hard to even move out there. Every time I have a few minutes to work on it, the sheer enormity of the project just overwhelms me. I need to keep plugging away at it, but it's hard when I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Alright, enough whining! Back to it!
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Dan...
ReplyDeleteAt times when I feel overwhelmed I remind myself to take "baby steps."
With this thought in mind it feels like even the small things accomplished are "wins." A win is a win and a step in the right direction.
I'm a big believer in making lists, especially in the shop. It not only works as an organizational tool, but a list of small things tend to help fight the enormity of large projects.
ReplyDeleteA&J - I agree, but man-o-man will it take forever for a baby to clean that shop up! Just kidding, and thanks for the reminder. I think my mantra really has to be "one thing at a time" or make that "one SMALL thing at a time."
ReplyDeleteTorch02 - Oh, I am with you on the list making! I have lists of lists. I must admit I like crossing things off on lists - sometimes I even cheat a little by putting things on there like "wake up" and "eat breakfast." But it does help. In this case I think maybe that the items on my list are too large. I'm going to take your advice and make a new list with much smaller objectives so I can feel a little more successful at the pace I am able to work at the moment. Thanks.
I did the "temporary walls" thing using plastic tarps to cordon off a quarter of my basement. So two of the walls in all my shop photos are a lovely blue. But that allowed me to shove everything not-woodworking into the not-workshop areas where I didn't care about the chaos.
ReplyDeleteOf course, then I proceeded to stuff the workshop with too much wood and woodworking stuff, so I'm due for an overhaul, too.
I'm this close to shoving everything that has a cord out. Already did that with the radial arm saw, next is the Shopsmith and all its accessories, as well as the routers. That will open up a lot of floor, shelf, and wall space, then I can put up pine boards instead of pegboard and have hand tool racks. Wow, now you've got me fired up!
Steve - I'm happy I could help fire you up! I'm hoping to make some progress myself this upcoming long weekend. I'm sure it will add to the chaos at first...
ReplyDeleteAbout getting rid of the power tools - it's amazing how much space they take up and how different the shop feels without them. Just a completely different energy.
Have fun!