I suffer from what can only be described as Incomplete Project Syndrome, and was wondering who else might share that.
With many projects, I start, gain some momentum, and then something happens that puts an abrupt halt on things. The reasons vary – maybe what I’m making is a jig or accessory that I need to put to use immediately. Or maybe I’m waiting on a last-minute tool, part, or accessory.
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Take my tool cabinet, for example. Above is an older photo. I’d take a new photo, but cleaning up the area around it to allow for a photo might lead to a few hours of distractions.
As it looks now, there’s one bay that’s fully loaded with drawers, and an attached second bay that has 4 drawers equivalent to the larger ones shown here. I need to make 2 more.
There are no handles.
I haven’t done any more work to finish the drawers with shellac and polyurethane.
There are no drawer fronts, despite having all the wood and tools to make them.
The countertop hasn’t been put on yet.
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I haven’t made any decisions about how to extend the tool cabinet around a corner to make a new workbench or tool cabinet.
I have updated how the 80/20 fastens together, although I’m not sure there’s now enough low-end clearance. Maybe if/when I replace the feet with swivel feet for better leveling I’ll raise everything up that way.
When sizing the new 80/20 frame, I had the extrusions cut to different dimensions so as to minimize the dead space behind drawers.
But, after a year, the build is far from finished. Once it was usable, I just put it to work immediately, thinking I’d get back to the other bits – putting a finish on the drawers and making drawer fronts – when I could.
I bought a new dehumidifer for the basement, and the included drain tube is too short. I haven’t made a stand for it yet, and positioned it as close to the drain as the 8-foot tubing could reach. The tubing is held in place using grey push blocks that I stopped using after buying Bench Dog ones. I’ve been meaning to build a PVC trap instead of the tubing “pretzel” option that the dehumidifer company recommends as a trap option. But the “pretzel” is doing the job for the time being.
I don’t even want to tell you about the LED lights in the utility room. They’re not quite ideally mounted to the ceiling, and I haven’t secured their power cords either yet.
I find that I don’t complete things that don’t “need” to be completed. Even for a high-priority project, once the sense of urgency is gone, it’s hard to get it back. It’s something I really need to work on.
Maybe part of the cause is that I don’t have good personal organization. Maybe if there was a whiteboard in front of me, with lists of tasks and projects that need to be done, I’d forget.
Hmm, yes… having to-do lists might be one potential solution, or at least a way to combat this. One list could be what I need to do in a project, and then I can have a more visible list of projects or specific project-related tasks that need to be done.
With ToolGuyd, I have a rough editorial calendar that helps me stay on top of things. Things get better structured when I work on a lot of posts at once, such as when know I’ll be away from a computer for a few days.
And when I worked on Make Magazine’s ToolBox review section, I created a spreadsheet to stay on top of things for each issue, with each issue getting its own page.
So maybe organization and planning is a way to combat Incomplete Project Syndrome. Most of my incomplete projects are “good enough for now,” but I have a feeling that things will only get more chaotic as I start more projects and work on smaller ones in between.
What do you do to help get past the “good enough for now” stage that can leave projects unfinished?
Daniel
Guilty lol i just finished the kids garage for power wheels after a couple weeks of waiting. Have 2 furniture projects still being used but unfinished after 2 plus years. Tore out a room in basement that meed electrical redone wires are still hanging thats 2 years ago so yeah i feel your pain.
Rock Hound
I have more started projects as my home than finished ones. I have been there for a little over a year and a half.
Andy from Workshopshed
I have a big pile of unfinished projects, however storage is not one of those. That’s just a continual work in progress that adjust and adapts to my current requirements. I’m thinking of building a cupboard for my 3D printer so it can live in the workshop rather than the kitchen. It will need to be dust proof so that it does not gain a load of dust from the grinder and other dirty workshop activities.
Stuart
I’d love to see a 3D printer enclosure! It’s something I tried to do with my small Taig mill in preparation of converting it to CNC, but never quite worked out the design outside of it being a big enclosed box. Maybe a sloped front face would work well. For something like a 3D printer, a big box shape might be the only option.
Ooh, will there be cooling fans or fume extraction?
Andy from Workshopshed
I was thinking a fairly conventional cupboard shape with storage on the doors. Was going to add a fan and peltier setup to help dehumidify the cupboard but there’s no reason it could not also act as cooling or extraction.
Adam
I do have that problem, as well as the exact opposite on some projects (that might never should have started) & end up getting too much time invested.
MT_Noob
I have the same issues. I also find that “temporary” fixes become the “long term” fixes.
ktash
For those who remember the Red Green show: “Now, this is only temporary – unless, of course, it works.” One of my favorite quotes.
Paul
“If the women can’t find you hansom, they should at least find you handy.”
chris parker
help!!!..i can’t even move atm in my shop!!!…bout to pull everything out, precisely put all back in, but leave the most important, and first to tackle front, and center…have an erase board large and clear in a must complete list before eyeballing anymore of my wacky run-ins with new, and mysterious adventures.
ktash
Yep, I’ve thought about this. A lot!
1. In doing projects, there are nearly always roadblocks, things that I have to figure out before I go further. This can be part of the fun, solving problems. Before the “done enough stage” I’m likely to find a way to solve the problem. But once it’s good enough, it’s not on my priority list anymore. So, I have a lot of unfinished wood in projects I’m using in the shop. For the fairly rough shop furniture, I think I should just leave it as is. I always finish regular furniture, though.
2. Changing designs due to problems. This is a subset of the first one. My tall cherry cabinet (regular, not shop furniture) needs to have the drawer installed. I have the drawer and the hardware, but I made the drawer a tad too long. So, should I plane the front to make it thinner for a flush fit, or make an overlay door? Make a new drawer? There’s more to it than this, but that’s a flavor.
3. Having a more exciting project that I’d rather work on than finishing my shop furniture. Or having more work and being tired, or having surgery (recently). All these things mean I lose momentum for things like item #2.
4. Too small a shop/workspace. This means if I miss something in a step, there is often considerable setup to be done to remedy it. Inertia takes over.
5. Creativity–I usually do a plan in sketchup, but then as I’m building it, some better idea comes along. This frequently happens.
6. Also, I’ve tended to overthink and overbuild, though I’m getting better at that. “Perfectionism is not my friend” is what I keep reminding myself. Yes, cuts need to be square and all that, exactness is important, but not in all areas.
7. I agree that having an organization flowchart/plan/calendar is a good idea. But for me there’s more to it than that for me since things rarely go according to plan.
Andy from Workshopshed
A great summary
JoeM
Ditto/+1/Whatever the Kids are using for “What He Said” these days.
jtr165
I completely get the ‘once usable’ aspect of any project. My wife and I remodeled our kitchen in 2014, put 2 solid months of every evening and weekend into it…then, it was about 85% complete (needs some trim work, cabinet underlighting finished even though it’s already wired and would take an hour, and some duct work for the hood we bought). As soon as we could use it for cooking and everything, we moved on to other projects.
We both seem to agree that having lots of projects going at any given time reduces tedium. With a 19 month old son, now, it’s important that we have the option of ‘fun’ parts of different projects when we get the time. Problem with this route is that eventually we’re going to be stuck doing nothing but the annoying parts to completely finish several different major endeavors. Our redesigned deck is actually completely done, which was overall the biggest undertaking we’ve dealt with. I also rebuilt our garage roof with the help of some friends, and started and finished it in a weekend recently. Probably the only project I ever did that went from beginning to end without working on other random stuff in between.
My advice for any ‘weekend warrior’ that is short handed on labor for specific things; buy a decent smoker. Smoker’s are great because you can cook something for 8+ hours outside while working, and everyone helping you sticks around waiting for it. Offering money for the help usually results in getting a few hours, but putting a brisket on in the morning guarantees EVERYONE stays until it’s ready haha.
Bill
jtr, any advise on pellet grill/smokers? I’m looking for one now as I like the idea of digital controls and just setting it like an outdoor oven and coming back at the end of the day and finding dinner ready. 🙂
jtr165
I don’t have a whole lot of experience with pellet smokers; my Dad had a ‘Bradley’ smoker for a bit, which used an electric heating element and fed in these pressed wood puck like things. Not the same, as it’s not burning the pucks for heat, only for smoke…It worked ok but fell apart within a few years.
I’ve had a 22″ Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker (most call it a Weber Bullet) since it released in like 2011 (They’ve made an 18″ forever, also). No joke have burned over 2 tons of charcoal through it. I understand the appeal of pellet control as you just set it like an oven for the most part, but honestly, with that Weber I can build a fire that locks at 250 for over 12 hours with barely ever having to maintain it (main thing is just adding a little water to the pan every 5 or so hours, or longer for stuff where you don’t mind the heat creeping up to 275’ish). And it burns any kind of wood and/or charcoal, which for me is a lot more readily available.
I think it was $350 when I bought it, the 18″ is a bit less, and I think now they even have a 14″ model. Haven’t had a single issue with it, and after a little practice is as easy as any cooking appliance. Also, you can cook 8 racks of ribs in the 22″, or just one. It’s pretty flexible with the amount of people you have waiting haha.
Bill
jtr, thanks for the reply. While I have never owned a smoke of any type I have been using my rather large 4 burner gas grill as a smoker and slow cooker but it always proves difficult to keep the temp at the magical 225. I have been surprised that Weber has yet to come out with a pellet smoker but maybe they see that market as to small for them.
Chance
I have had a Traeger for 5 years now and I am pretty happy with it. I love the fact that I can turn it on and come back in 6 hours and it’s still smoking, no need to sit around and tend the fire all day.
Bill
Chance,
I’ve been looking at the Traeger, it seem reasonably priced with good reviews and a good place to start. Have you ever checked, using a another digital thermometer, to see how well your Traeger is able to maintain a temperature setting?
Don
Been there, did that over and over again. Sometimes life gets in the way and I figure oh well , I can use what I got and when things quiet down i’ll finish it…har, har!
Other times I get to a step thats complicated and I just want to take time to think about it and then get back to it, maybe soon.
Of late I’ve tried to stay more focused. I’ve found that if I do 2-3 projects at a time, then while im procrastinating or stalling on one, I can move to another and keep entertained, then go to the 3rd and finally make the circuit back to the first and finish up. Gets a little cluttered at times but Im at least finishing things now.
FishStick
Story of my life for the past years. Get about 85% done and then it’s onto something else that isn’t working or could greatly benefit from an 85% completion. Only thing I really finished always was roofing because 85% done means it still leaks. Usually it’s a money thing though but it can also be the usual it didn’t quite work out and now I need to think how to fix it. Either way, creates delays and that always incomplete pile of stuff – or the house in this case.
fred
There is an element of truth in that you might get the most value out of the initial x% of the work and the rest of the work (100-X)% takes a disproportionate amount of time compared to its value to complete. Sometimes that’s because the final few tasks (we’d say punch lists) are the most likely to be persnickety. Too bad that some corollary or the Pareto rule doesn’t apply to construction – then we might call it quits after 20% of the work was done thinking that we got 80% of the value out.
Jim Felt
A new definition of the 80-20 rule. Interesting.
FishStick
Sadly that’s where I’m at. I’m not terrible at trim/finish but not my favorite thing to do and that’s what needs to be done to call a room done. But that’s very true that the first x% gives the most bang for the buck and those last couple of details take the longest. Basically rebuilding my entire house from the studs so yeah, ~80% complete gives a very decent “finished” feel and since trim isn’t cheap and adds nothing functionally I can live without it for awhile. Devil in the details…
fred
Well I earned part of my living running some businesses where we mostly started jobs from scratch or were subcontractors on a bigger job so we knew where we fit into the schedule (Gantt Chart / Pert Chart anyone?). But sometimes were at the tail end to “make it right” on work started by a DIYer or an incompetent (or worse) contractor. We never had a big issue with the homeowner who wanted to do the work themselves – but bad work or incomplete work by so called professionals was another thing entirely. My take is that a good contractor will try their best to provide a fair estimate of both cost and schedule – explaining what might go awry with both. We had clients who wanted guaranteed maximum price or even fixed-price estimates – and others who were happy if we bid time and material plus profit. The fixed price bids – of course were padded out to cover contingencies.
Your thing about waiting on trim work – also has an analogy for contract work. We bid some jobs where schedule was as important or even more so than cost. Sometimes we were offered incentives for beating a scheduled date and penalties for missing that date. While we sometimes worked lots of overtime to get some commercial jobs done, I can’t recall a homeowner ever asking that we go to extra shifts, in order to meet a schedule. I do recall being asked if we might accommodate a cashflow issue by spreading our work out over a longer period. Its a little awkward for a contractor to leave a job incomplete – and there can be costs associated with mobilization, demobilization and then remobilization when you piece a job out – but it can work. For you – it might actually work to your advantage – letting you step back and adjust your plans if you decide something different might be better – so I wouldn’t beat myself up about your hiatus.
FishStick
Luckily I’m not on a timeline because I might pay the mortgage off before I’m done 🙂 Sometimes I wish I could get a contractor but I know I can’t afford it. Everything is custom because it’s a mobile home so that alone is $$$ and most won’t even touch them. Even getting a HVAC problem (in the home, not even under) looked at took several calls. Interior walls are 2×3 and everything is framed to purposely not fit standard dimensions.
Take for example a simple door. Existing door is only a door screwed to a 2×3, no jamb. So the existing framing must be torn down, cut back about 2 inches, reframed and then make a door jamb that’s only 3.5″ wide. I’ve been using prehung but probably going to have to switch to making my own jambs because they just don’t fit and I have to trim them down anyway. And that’s just for starters…
Reinsulate, reframe to reinforce existing lumber (pattern was 2×3, 1×3, 1×3, 2×3 which made the 3/16″ thick panels for walls land on a 2×3), redo electrical and install a few new circuits to balance, drywall, windows, paint, floors and the list goes on…
Cabinets are another fun thing that I’ve been learning how to build because premade don’t fit and I can’t afford a custom kitchen to shave a couple of inches off. At least they’ll be durable though, solid oak face frames and doors with 3/4″ bb ply for the carcass.
Thanks for the encouraging words and suggestions, it’s certainly a project and a half 🙂
Nathan
guilty too. I need to organize the garage now that we’re mostly moved it – orient various bits.
but part of that holdup – I need 2 new power outlets and haven’t bothered to get them put int because the first guy I called was way too high in price. since thing I’ve done without. That’s 6 months ago
Nathan
Yup.
I will invoke here the Pareto Principle.
fred
In my case its more a combination of Parkinson’s Law, Murphy’s Law and Bobby Burns’ observation: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.”
I’ll start on my Christmas present projects (sometimes furniture pieces or garden items) in the spring, when we return from our winter retreat to Florida. I always have the intention of getting everything done prior to our autumn vacation. But invariably – I leave the finishing touches to November and sometimes I’ll be working on things right up to the week before Christmas.
ktash
Ha, ha–inspired by this post, I just put a magnetic latch on a hutch that I inherited. Fifteen minute job, including getting the tools and putting them away.
Beautiful piece, but the door never stayed closed. My mom had it and it was always like that, same with my grandmother. Great grandmother had it, but I don’t know if it was like that then. I know Mom and Grandma stuck a folded index card in it to keep it closed. This morning it had the folded index card in it. But no longer.
Well, how long was that put off? At least 50 years, maybe more. Since I have power tools it took only 15 minutes to fix a half-century or more problem. The march of progress 😀
DW
Since having our first kid 9 months ago I can’t get anything done. I have a number of planned projects that I’ve written down but nowadays that’s as far as they get.
Hang Fire
“So maybe organization and planning is a way to combat Incomplete Project Syndrome. Most of my incomplete projects are “good enough for now,” but I have a feeling that things will only get more chaotic as I start more projects and work on smaller ones in between.
What do you do to help get past the “good enough for now” stage that can leave projects unfinished?”
If it’s in plain view, I don’t have to do anything. My spouse will provide the motivation for quick resolution.
For everything else, after lists, planning and organization, it gets down to motivation. It’s always a challenge if you have children, a job, an active mind and a tired body. Generally the more important projects bubble to the top. For example, all your current plans for your in-house shop, study or man cave room go out the window the moment the next child is immanent. See how easily that works?
But really it gets down to whether at heart you’re a mess maker or a fixer, improver, and repairer. I’ve already expressed my opinion about Stuart on THAT topic here, and won’t do it again. But like alcoholism to recovery, it takes will and effort (and trial and error) to move from one to the other.
fred
As a wise man said: the longest journey starts with the first step – thus wanting to encourage us to get started. Jobs where we can see instantaneous results (maybe flooring, tile work, painting, wallpapering) might be easier – because we get some gratification fairly quickly by seeing results. Motivation might also come from necessity – when we really do need to have a working toilet or kitchen as an example. But shop projects are more likely to fall into the category of things we think that we like to do versus things we need to do. If you never seem to be able to get to it, maybe you need to either call it quits or re-examine your needs and motivation for doing it. In FishStick’s example of trim work, maybe you decide that your time and money is better used elsewhere right now rather than installing some crown molding or Arts and Crafts casing. If we decide that some project is of value to us (monetarily, joy of doing it, happy spouse etc.) then, I think we just need to have a task list, schedule or some other form of reminder about what we need to do – then have the gratification of seeing the list shrink as we accomplish some of the tasks. Of course, you can’t get disheartened knowing that another job and task list is probably waiting in the wings. This is what make life interesting. Having too much that you would like to do and too little time to do it in is a realization that you come to in stages during your life. Deciding exactly what’s most important and how to get it done in a the time you have available is always a challenge – but we can soldier on.
Bill K
Yep…. tons of projects and thoughts of projects I’d like to do. On a day-to-day basis I do use a prioritized daily list to make sure the critical items are addressed, but still have many many more waiting.
Recently I had an ahaaa when wondering why I procrastinate completion on some projects already underway. That ahaaa was I realized some of my decision making is emotionally based and those cannot be pressured. When the time is right those deciosns will be made. As a result of this thinking, I am more understanding and accepting of my procrastination. Maybe like an artist.
Anybody else look at this way?
ktash
Yes, Bill K, I do look at some of it this way. One feature of this is that my thinking/skills needs time to develop for some projects. Also finding the right resources/wood, etc. If I just did them to finish them, it could be unsatisfying. These are projects for woodworking as a hobby, not things that have to get done. Sometimes things magically come together. Sometimes they fall apart. I’m ok with what looks like procrastination.
In the things I do for a living, not related to woodworking or diy, I am pretty well-organized and on task.
fred
The “artist” is a good analogy. Some may say that there can be a blending of artistic talent and genius. Leonardo comes to mind – and we consider him a genius – but I wonder what his contemporaries thought as he may have seemed to them to flit from one thing to another. I suspect that his need to earn a living and his commissions from patrons was what put him “back on track” from time to time – and his genius is clearly evident in some of his work he left us to admire.
Hobbies like woodworking seem to attract lots of dilettantes – some who seem to get more into the tools and appurtenances than they do into the actual work. It takes time to learn and hone the skills needed to do decent work – let alone fine work – and then more time to produce items of value. Demands of our real jobs (if different from woodworking) , our families, needs for other forms of relaxation rightly come first – so we should not be surprised that hobbies get shifted to the back burner.
One thing I’ve noted about hobbies – and particularly some of the magazines and other media (I’m a regular reader of this blog ) that appeal to the hobbyists – is that they focus more on the “tools of the trade” (could be woodworking tools, cameras, fishing reels, golf clubs etc.) rather than what should be the end product (furniture building, taking pictures, fishing, golfing). Magazines like Shop Notes seem to continually focus on building jigs, shop storage projects and tools – not so much on items that you can produce using them. I guess its what readers want and for other magazines its manufacturers and advertisers selling tools and equipment that pay the bills.
Maybe we like this focus because the dilettante in all of us (maybe part of our reptilian brain) thinks that if we only had the best table saw, the best camera, the best fishing reel, the latest golf club, the best organized shop etc. – we could pursue their associated hobbies with great alacrity and prowess. The reality is that skill, talent, time and dedication are more important than these other things. Great furniture was produced by folks (let’s call them artists) who did so with a relatively small collection of tools – but the skill and talent to do so.
Robert W
My problem is called, ‘my wife likes to fill up my vacation with things like a grocery trip in the middle of the day and then I’m ticked cuz we spent too much money when I could’ve just lived off of spaghettios.’
Andy from Workshopshed
What I’ve not figured out is why a lamp shade or cushion is an essential but a chisel is classed as a luxury
Robert W
Hehe, exactly.
fred
I overheard two women in a high-end jewelry store in Manhattan – one saying to the other that she really NEEDED some piece of jewelry. I don’t want to be sexist here – because it could just as well been a man saying the same thing about an expensive car.
I thought to myself about what our needs really are – and the priority in which we need them: Air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, shelter, clothing and so on. Lamp shades, cushions,and chisels (for hobbies anyway) – are all a lot further back on that list. If we are lucky enough to have lots of disposable income, it is truly a luxury to be able to buy things that give us pleasure or make our lives better beyond our basic needs. But I’m reminded, lest I get carried away with buying stuff (as George Carlin used to say) , to be charitable, because there are many less fortunate souls living both nearby and worldwide who may struggle to put food on the table or find shelter for the night
firefly
I am guilty as charged. My “project fund” has been put on hold by the “boss” until I finish cleaning up the garage 😀
fsm
some of my projects are even worst than hou guys.
some times i buy stuff “parts” to make a project plan for it. and in the end
not even starting it just to leave brand new parts in drawers , boxes , that will just sit there for years .
fred
With all of us there may be some pathology involved with biting off more than we can chew. I recall an old joke that is somewhat apropos:
A fellow is in the confessional asking for absolution for his sin of stealing.
The priest inquires more about the guy’s thievery.
The fellow sobs that he thinks that he might be a kleptomaniac since he takes things he couldn’t possibly need or have time or the ability to use.
Wanting to know more the priest asks for details.
The penitent says that he works in a lumber yard – and almost every day for month’s he’s been bringing home 2X4s, , 2X8s or some other lumber – to the point that he no longer has space to store it all.
The priest ponders this – and for penance he says to the fellow ” I’d like you to make me a Novena and ask Mother Mary to intercede on your behalf to cure you of this compulsion to steal”
Well father, says the guy: “If you have the blueprints for whatever a Novena is – then I certainly have the lumber to build it”
Phil
@fsm
I am the same way. I have all or most of the parts for multiple projects, sometimes start them, sometimes the parts just sit. Some get finished though… eventually…
RobertD
I get Gung-HO when the spring time hits. For a few good months I Love spending time in my garage working on wood projects. Then Summer weather hits and it’s all over until late October pretty much. Central Valley California.
I have my usual to-do list of finishing my garage cabinets. My wife loves my work so much she volunteers my skills to making things for other people. Another set back on my own projects.
Stuart. I tried to email you the pics of my MDF garage cabinets you wanted to see but could not. Wouldn’t let me attach the pics. Another way?
JoeM
On average, I have one of two problems. One: Finances. Low income means I’m often saving up for what I need to finish a project. Often that amount gets “Raided” when higher priority stuff comes up, and I never get around to finishing the project. The other: Sourcing. Canadian, for one. Finding the stuff I need, or seeing that a tool/substance/something is available for my projects, I then go looking for a source that either ships to me, or is located somewhere I can get to. I only have a 10% success rate on finding one or both of those things. I either can’t get there, or it doesn’t come to me.
Gets REALLY bad when I find something I need, can’t do the project without, and then I find a place that can ship it to me, but suddenly the shipping costs make it inaccessible to me. So the two conditions combine into a third, bastard, condition where I just can’t do the project because shipping the materials to me is financial suicide.
I currently have around 30 different projects in various states of this. Plus I had my Father pass away this past January, so it has derailed another untold hundred other projects that just had to stop in their tracks so I could figure things out going forward. Computer equipment I want to build, Arduino and other Electronics projects I wanted to learn, Cat toys I wanted to build to occupy my little monsters so I can, you know, get some projects done? Plus I make Jewellery, build various Accessibility Devices for my disabled Mother, and to top it all off, I suffer from PTSD and another Anxiety Disorder… Most of this stuff I took on as a way to act as THERAPY for these things… None of that has worked.
Hi, My Name is Joe, and I suffer from Incomplete Project Syndrome… It has been 6 months since I finished a project…
someone that sees you
it’s an anecdote of why you’re diy and not a pro.
JByrd
Ain’t it the truth!
Tell it to the folks building the four AP-1000 reactors in Georgia and South Carolina.
fred
Maybe a comment on the world condition – but it looks like the first AP-1000 to go critical will be in Sanmen, Zhejiang Province, China – not South Carolina. Furthermore, Westinghouse – the builder of many of the older fleet of PWR’s worldwide, is now owned by Toshiba. I believe that the Westinghouse subsidiary has already declared bankruptcy – and whether Toshiba can stay afloat is questionable. The four AP-1000’s being built at two different locations in China and the four in the US (SC and GA sites) apparently were all way behind schedule with huge cost overruns.
This is indeed a comment about why delays (that can occur for a variety of reasons) on construction projects are so costly. I commented before about having signed contracts with financial incentives for beating scheduled dates and penalties for missing them. When a building (or power plant) is under construction – the financing secured to build it carries interest charges that typically keep accruing until the facility is put into service and starts earning money. The compounding effect of these charges can be staggering. If we had the same sort of disincentives applied to our hobby projects – we’d either never undertake them – or plan with exquisite care before buying materials and starting work – and then once work was started we’d go like hell to drive to completion.
Whether we know it or not, there is a cost associated with buying materials for a project too soon. If you wait too long to use materials they may deteriorate, get damaged or be lost. But even if all goes well, you will have used up a portion of your capital sooner than needed – and you could have been earning on that capital via other investments – or using applying what you spent to more pressing/better things. When we were thinking about purchasing new tools or particularly big machinery we undertook a financial analysis to compare all costs (cradle to grave) compared to the projected anticipated revenue stream from that piece of equipment. We’d put confidence bands on our calculations and if the breakeven point was not soon enough – we’d try to do without or look at alternatives.
Jim Felt
Wow. I sometimes wish we’d been that rational in the early ’90’s buying our first Leaf digital camera backs for our Hasselblads. $36K each for 4 megapixels. Plus the earliest RGB to CMYK hardwired boards(!) for file conversion. $10K each for calibratable CRT monitors and more for the Macs to run them. CD burners had just dropped to $25K. And the storage!
But we weren’t.
Oh well. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”…
Now this iPhone has 12 megapixels (MP) with a RAW file App and our actual still cameras have 50 to 100 MP capture.
fred
Photography certainly has gone through some remarkable changes in rather short order. When I first got interested in photography as a hobby (just a few years after Louis Daguerre – if you would believe how old my grandchildren think I am) dye transfer printing was still in vogue for crisp color prints.
Luckily for us, in our business buying trucks and vans, small-shop woodworking machinery, small metal shop fabrication tools, welding equipment, mandrel benders, polishers, and so on, plus lots of small tools and the odd piece of construction equipment for the installation , remodeling and plumbing business – we were not hit with a lot of disruptive new technologies. If we had been bigger – maybe wanting to bring inhouse some of the work we contracted out – then we might have invested in more CNC machinery, or water jet cutters or other things that have gone through more revolutionary iterations forcing us to keep up. Where we had hiccups, they may have been because we misread how bad or long a downturn in the construction/remodeling business was going to be – and didn’t adapt quickly enough. As it was when I retired, we had survived several downturns and were stronger for it – being able to buy out others along the way. Maybe we fared well based on good luck (I’ll take lucky over smart any day), but perhaps our conservative spending approach helped along the way . Its easy to put on those rose colored glasses when things are good – live la vie en rose – and think it will continue ad infinitum. Alas nothing ever does – but the counterpoint is that the “woe is us” times don’t last forever either.
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this is an issue with mental fatigue. I get it with electronics projects.
I just feel happy not finishing it.
John
YES I DO.
My wife calls it ADHD, I call it “too many projects and not enough me”.
Jim Felt
John. My wife adds “a touch of autism spectrum too” just raise the ante. Grrrr.
Mr. Gerbik
This is not hard to overcome. First of all, you can’t settle for good enough. Good enough is half assed. Unacceptable. Got to see it through until completed before trying to fix or tinker with the next project. What ends up happening is you start out with one good enough project & you have all your tools out that are for the project. Then you start another good enough project and you have tools out for that project. Then it gets worse and worse until you have ten good enough projects going, every tool you have is scattered all over the place you can’t find what the hell you need to do anything because all of the good enough projects turned into one giant clusterf__k. And then you have to clean it all up just to find a hammer. I got fed up with it and I told myself and disciplined myself to see the project through before starting the next. Its even harder when you have a family. That’s why I don’t try to bite off more than I can chew. That way I don’t have a bunch of stuff that is just good enough waiting to get finished.
fred
Your bit about “a bunch of stuff” reminds me of the late George Carlin’s comedy bit (now on YouTube) talking about “stuff” . Watching it, I’m reminded that, at my age, its time to give away (sometimes to the trash man) more of my “stuff” and to resist the urge to create another piece of “stuff” unless I get rid of at least 1 or more other (preferably more) pieces of “stuff”. Carlin’s bit about what a “house” is , as a storage place for stuff, gives you pause for thought – particularly if you have several places to hang your hat.