Happy Sunday everybody! We finally got started with our new medicine cabinet project and I’m hoping to show you the video next week. The build is going very fast. I’ve only put in around 2 hours of work and I’m nearly finished. Ideally, I’ll be painting it later this week. That’s going to be a challenge in this bitterly cold weather, but I’ll figure it out.
In today’s post, I wanted to talk about project burn-out. Project burn-out comes in all forms. It’s not just mental or physical exhaustion. Often times for me, it’s just a general lack of motivation. During the week it’s especially hard to overcome. After work, I get home and eat dinner with the wife and kids, have some family time and then after the kids are in bed, I maybe have an hour or two for projects or writing. So that means I can either do some DIY work or skip it and do something else, but I can’t do a ton of stuff. That small window of time makes it really, really easy for me to blow off a home improvement project.
When I’m in the middle of a huge project, like when we were remodeling our home office, taking a couple nights a week off can drag that project on for a longer time than I’d like. In fact, sometimes with the larger projects it can feel like you’re never going to finish them.
I know what that’s like. It’s no fun. Home improvement projects are hard enough technically. Add to that the stress of working on your house for several weeks and months and it can get to you.
Here are 5 tips for dealing with project fatigue that will help get you through those DIY doldrums. These tips are strategies I use when I’m knee deep in drywall dust and still have weeks and weeks more work ahead of me.
1. Take a Break. Intentionally take some time off. In fact, plan those breaks ahead of time. Taking some time off away from the project space is probably the best way to recharge your mental batteries. If you’re physically tired or just tired of working, taking a night or two off from a project is supremely helpful. After a long day at work, sometimes you just need to skip the project and relax. Catch a movie or go to bed extra early are a couple options. This is especially true if you are stuck. Go clear your head for a while.
2. Get Ready for the Next Work Day Ahead of Time. Often times when I’m starting day two or three of a multi-day job, I’ll waste maybe 30 minutes or more just setting up my tools and materials. So instead of doing your setup for day two during day two, setup for day two at the very end of day one. After a couple hours of work on day one, you’ll probably be in a groove and setting up for the next day will be easier than doing it later. You can even leave a note for yourself reminding you of where you stopped last time. This technique can be effective since it makes it easier for you to start the project again and get busy working right away. Some examples of prep work you can do the day before include setting up the table saw with the right blade, adjusting the fence setting and blade height or putting the router bit in the router.
3. Smaller Tasks and Smaller Time. If you really need to work on your projects, but don’t want to take on any big power tool work, you can always concentrate on some smaller maintenance tasks. These smaller tasks include cleaning up your work space, putting away tools you’re finished using and doing some of those minor chores that slow you down. If you have two hours to work before bed time you can always just do these smaller tasks for just an hour and take the other hour off. It will feel like you kept working and moving the project along even if you didn’t do a whole hell of a lot.
4. Motivate Yourself. What pumps you up? Heavy metal music? A coffee? Whatever it is, try to incorporate it into your work schedule to keep yourself moving. For me, I love putting on some AC/DC to keep my blood pumping and I try to have a little bit of caffeine with dinner if I want to avoid fatigue. Just don’t go crazy. If you’re going to be using power tools, you still want to be calm and careful.
5. Ask for Help. A great way to break up the monotony of a big project is to enlist the help of a friend or family member for a night. Obviously having another set of hands will help move the project along, but it will also get you talking about the project. Talking about the project can be motivational. I know it is for me.
I hope this tips help you get through your next long project! If you found this post helpful, please share it.
What techniques do you use to use to stay motivated and avoid project burn out?
