Quitting Early for More Productivity

[EricP]

Over the past year I've discovered something in my workshop that seems a bit contradictory. That being if I am in the middle of a sort of repetitive step of a project, say machining lumber to size, and the next step of the project will take some set-up thought or design, I'm better off not completing the repetitive step before I leave for the day. It seems the next time I'm in the shop if I can immediately start where I left off and get some work completed before going to the next set-up/design step I make that transition much smoother and quicker.

Anybody else find their mind shifts easier when warm than cold? Or do you prefer to complete the current task and start fresh on the next?

 

[The Cobbler]

when possible/feasible I like to complete a step

 

[Ilikeike]

Sometimes it takes me a bit to get going or get back into the groove,so if a simple task gets you warmed up,that's what you should do.

I usually start out getting organized and laying everything out,finishing a cup of coffee clean up a little more before I get technical.
But when I do that,I usually find another project that needs to be done....

 

[James-W]

I don't know, I never tried quitting just before I completed a task so I could continue doing the same task the next day. I always complete the task I am working on before quitting for the day, unless I have a whole lot left to do on that task. If I am nowhere near done with the task at hand, I quit as soon as I am tired of working on it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I've found that many times, that you just need a break. I'll sit down eat some pretzels have a Dr Pepper and flip through a catalog or magazine and get back at it.

Maybe your blood sugar is dropping a bit and you're losing your concentration.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I prefer finishing a step, even if the day ends early. If I stop halfway through a process, then I can't sleep because I keep going over it in my mind and then the next day is totally blown due to exhaustion or starting so late. And I don't complete the step and then I can't sleep because I..... .....

 

[KRB52]

At the hardware store where I work, interruptions are the norm. I'll be in the middle of a project for a customer, working in the back room, when someone comes in the front door. Usually, I'm the only one working. I try to remember not only where I was on the project, but that I was working on one to begin with. That last part has started to bite me.

 

[Voi]

Or do you prefer to complete the current task and start fresh on the next?

I have a hard time starting a project unless I can really tackle it. It get's me wound up and excited to see something creative come together. If I were dimensioning lumber I'd want to get it all done and get up the next day and move on to phase two.

I have to get over this now that I have kids. Need to learn slow and steady.

 

[bobcatdan]

I work until a logical stopping point or I run out of parts.

 

[Slowgsr]

Hmm... Yes.

Sometimes it's easier to just jump right back into something where you left off since you had it figured out.

First thing at the beginning of a day it might take some extra thinking to get the setup ready, maybe as your doing the repetitive work which involves little thinking your subconsciously planning the next more difficult step. So it seems easier at that point?

I like to be challenged with troubleshooting.

 

[trainer]

If I'm doing something repetitive and find that I'm beginning to make mistakes, I'll call it a day and go watch tv or look at the internet for a while.

Recently, I was machining a bunch of parts for cupboard doors on the router table. The router was slowly creeping out of alignment and I ruined five pieces before I noticed.

Rather than cutting new pieces and starting over, I called it a day, threw the bad parts in the scrap pile and pulled the bit out of the router so I would have to set it up again before continuing.
Being tired or pissed off around sharp moving machinery isn't a good situation.

 

[Thumper68]

I prefer to finish what I was doing and start fresh. That gives me time to figure out the best way to do the next step and not pull my concentration away from something else.

There are times where I will wake up in the middle of the night knowing the best way to do that next step or some other idea that I need to do, I keep a note book beside the bed and write it down so I don't forget in the morning, now if I could just remember to take the notebook with me all would be good.

 

[Richard Cranium]

One evening I was changing a transmission for my sister, I got it all back together other then putting the speed-o-meter cable back in, I tried and tried to get it to back in and couldn't get it to go. The next morning I got up went out to the shop and it dropped right in, with out a problem.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I rarely complete something at one run unless I have too, for several reasons. Often, I will think of something overnight that I may not have considered previously, and sometimes stop right before completion just to show myself that I am in control of what I do, not the project. I can turn it on and off like a switch, both at work and in my personal life.

 

[slip knot]

I'm a night person so I dont mind staying up late to finish a project but I've found that I do my best thinking/planning early in the day.

 

[d3ad1ysp0rk]

This is something I do at work, it seems to work well to get me right into the thick of things in the morning when I might be less than focused.

 

[rodsnratfinks]

I'm notorious for overdoing it. I just got into a fight with my wife about it yesterday. She gets annoyed because I get fixated on things and won't stop until my inner hamster dies. When I get stuck on something, I don't know when to walk away from it. I usually get frustrated and start making more and more mistakes until I am livid, then I make even more mistakes. The worst part is I know that I do this and that out always ends the same way.

When I was younger I used to build and repair computers, I often spent the whole night on a problem. I remember one time I had a motherboard that was firing up on its first build with all brand new parts. No matter what, could not get it to recognize any input from the keyboard. I tried everything under the sun and beginning to to think this thing bricked on me. I stayed up until 5 in the morning and got so frustrated that I punched the front of the case in. At that point, my mother came in and demanded that I go to bed and not touch it until I was home from school. I reluctantly agreed, and when I looked at it after school that day, I found the problem in under five minutes: there was a Keyboard port on/off jumper on the the motherboard that was set to the off position. Wow...

Sent via homing pigeon on methamphetamines

 

[Playwme]

Makes sense. Hardest part of the day is starting. If you have a nice simple task that you've already mastered you can start the day by finishing something which gets you keen to tackle more projects.

 

[Parkershop]

More and more I believe that momentum is everything, so whatever it takes to make it happen. Leaving some 'solved problems' to start the next day like that is actually a pretty popular approach for writers- Hemingway did it!

 

[rsnip988]

I work until a logical stopping point or I run out of parts.

^YES I often either run out of parts or the energy to complete a project lately before I stop..

Recently, I was machining a bunch of parts for cupboard doors on the router table. The router was slowly creeping out of alignment and I ruined five pieces before I noticed.

Rather than cutting new pieces and starting over, I called it a day, threw the bad parts in the scrap pile and pulled the bit out of the router so I would have to set it up again before continuing.
Being tired or pissed off around sharp moving machinery isn't a good situation.

Guilty!

I don't know when to walk away from it. I usually get frustrated and start making more and more mistakes until I am livid, then I make even more mistakes. The worst part is I know that I do this and that out always ends the same way. /QUOTE]
We must be related!

 

[coljar]

If it's repetitive, I've usually finished that step, but you have given me something to think about. When I haven't been able to finish a step, it was because I was interupted by someone or something else I had to do and it's irritating. I'll try doing what you suggested on purpose and see how it works..................at least once.

 

[rayra]

I do better finishing a step and resetting for the next day's work, maybe if it's late I'll do 'quiet time' stuff like measuring out a bunch of cuts, getting tools / blades set up. Then the next morning I can bust our a big burst of work and when I get to a drying / curing / out of parts stage I stop for a rest and food. Then another round of setup and production and prep for the next day. That last bit is also a good way to wind down. And to take proper care of tools and putting stuff away / cleaning.