Thought I'd take some time to mention a few things about Time management in the Shipyard.
These days Time seems to be the thing we have less and less of. With Work, Family, household duties, Friends and Hobbies its a wonder we even have time to sleep. Time is out most Valuable commodity for it takes times to do everything in life no matter what it is that needs doing, it all takes time, Probably the biggest question I get asked is (Joe how do you find the time to do the things you like with all the time required to do the things you must.) There is an answer to that question " YOU MUST find time to do the things in life that bring you happiness, that give you that retreat from the day in and day out chores that are required to live a decent life" The old saying All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy is the truest statement ever said. Lets face it, Work is a requirement that rarely any of us like to do, our reward for that hard work comes in the form of a paycheck that we use to pay bills something else we dislike to do. We do this every day and when we get home there are chores around the house that need doing yet more dislike. So what do we do to combat this? we take time and do enjoyable things like Build Ship models, Fish, Hunt, Ski and a whole host of other cool things. That is our reward for a hard days work. Put that reward aside and we become cantankerous Why? well I already told you "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" So now you know there is no excuse not to make and take time out for yourself, its not selfish its a requirement of life and we all need that time no matter who tells you otherwise. SO TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF
So now that you have decided to take some time out for YOU how do we make the most of the time we are taking? Well that's an easy answer, we plan ahead. Doesn't matter if its rigging a mast to go on a model ship or going hunting after work for a few hours it all requires careful planning to make the most of that time so we can wring out as much enjoyment as possible. Its up to you to figure out how much time you have and the best way to plan that time out we all lead different lives what works for one may not work for all. So how do I do it? I Get up at 4am get myself together with morning things like Brush my teeth have coffee and breakfast and out the door by 5am. I put in my 8 hours and I come home, a couple of hours for around the house duties like Mowing the lawn raking leaves or mending a fence, these are the things I MUST do. I plan these things a day ahead of time so I know today what I'll be doing at the house tomorrow I also know what I'll be doing for me time because I thought ahead. (more on this later) by now its usually 4:30ish I hop in the shower and about the time I'm done and dressed the wife is coming through the door I hug and kiss her and off I go to the shipyard where everything I had planned from the day before is laid out and ready for me. I build till supper time and the wife and I sit down to eat and talk about the days events. I help her with the clean up from supper and that may take half an hour away from my hobbies, but its worth it. Remember this always HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE. I always ask if she has anything she needs me for and usually its Nope so back to the shipyard I go. I work on what I had planned for the day till 9:30 and I lay out what I'll be doing the next day. Ok so I promised you More on this later, so here it is. My mentality is preparedness and I have an uncanny ability to visualize things in great detail I see what I have to do in my mind and I figure out how I'm going to do it before I even start working. I figure out the most efficient means to an end and I stick to that plan like Glue.
Doing this lets me make the Most of the time I have. Sometimes I will plan several days ahead because I know what I can and can't get done with whatever time I have for that day so things like planking a ships hull I know I can't get that done in a 6 hour time frame, but I know I can get at least 1/4 of it done in that time so it may take me 4 days to plank that ships hull. I know for 4 days ahead what I'll be doing and how far along I should be at the end of each day. I am a steady worker, I don't take breaks. I work through the time I have Quickly and efficiently yet I do it Smoothly and its a well known fact that Smooth is fast so that's how I get a lot done in a short amount of time. I don't let my mind stray to other things while I work that will lead to daydreaming and that's wasted time. when I'm working on something I'm focused on the task at hand and nothing else. So does all this work for me yes it works very well. I do sometimes get side tracked, we all do because none of us are perfect, but that happens to me when I let other things get in my head while I'm working. Planning and focus and some determination will go along way to keeping those gremlins at bay. Will it work for you? I don't know, only you will know that. For me new Ideas come when I am sitting down at lunch, on the drive to customers locations, while I'm in the men's room, while I'm looking over others work here on the forums or on the Net in general. Ideas for improvements can come at anytime when they do come write them down and work them into your planning for the next days tasks, but try not to think of other things while you work leave that stuff at the doorstep to your shop, remember we are trying to maximize output on a minimal amount of time without compromising good clean work. Sometimes an idea will pop up and you see a better way to do something while your working on a task if it saves you a couple min time do it. if its going to extend your time where you wont get what you want dome then you have to make the call. For me I don't do it, but I do store it away and may do it on the next build. I stay the course no matter what and that works for me. So there you have it some things to point to are below. I hope I can help you find a better way to use your time efficiently and effectively in all this mess.
1 Take time for you
2 Visualize what need doing
3 Plan ahead
4 Work efficiently
5 Work steady
6 Focus on the task at hand
7 Stay determined to finish your task in the time you have.
8 The most important thing HAVE FUN!!
These days Time seems to be the thing we have less and less of. With Work, Family, household duties, Friends and Hobbies its a wonder we even have time to sleep. Time is out most Valuable commodity for it takes times to do everything in life no matter what it is that needs doing, it all takes time, Probably the biggest question I get asked is (Joe how do you find the time to do the things you like with all the time required to do the things you must.) There is an answer to that question " YOU MUST find time to do the things in life that bring you happiness, that give you that retreat from the day in and day out chores that are required to live a decent life" The old saying All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy is the truest statement ever said. Lets face it, Work is a requirement that rarely any of us like to do, our reward for that hard work comes in the form of a paycheck that we use to pay bills something else we dislike to do. We do this every day and when we get home there are chores around the house that need doing yet more dislike. So what do we do to combat this? we take time and do enjoyable things like Build Ship models, Fish, Hunt, Ski and a whole host of other cool things. That is our reward for a hard days work. Put that reward aside and we become cantankerous Why? well I already told you "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" So now you know there is no excuse not to make and take time out for yourself, its not selfish its a requirement of life and we all need that time no matter who tells you otherwise. SO TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF
So now that you have decided to take some time out for YOU how do we make the most of the time we are taking? Well that's an easy answer, we plan ahead. Doesn't matter if its rigging a mast to go on a model ship or going hunting after work for a few hours it all requires careful planning to make the most of that time so we can wring out as much enjoyment as possible. Its up to you to figure out how much time you have and the best way to plan that time out we all lead different lives what works for one may not work for all. So how do I do it? I Get up at 4am get myself together with morning things like Brush my teeth have coffee and breakfast and out the door by 5am. I put in my 8 hours and I come home, a couple of hours for around the house duties like Mowing the lawn raking leaves or mending a fence, these are the things I MUST do. I plan these things a day ahead of time so I know today what I'll be doing at the house tomorrow I also know what I'll be doing for me time because I thought ahead. (more on this later) by now its usually 4:30ish I hop in the shower and about the time I'm done and dressed the wife is coming through the door I hug and kiss her and off I go to the shipyard where everything I had planned from the day before is laid out and ready for me. I build till supper time and the wife and I sit down to eat and talk about the days events. I help her with the clean up from supper and that may take half an hour away from my hobbies, but its worth it. Remember this always HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE. I always ask if she has anything she needs me for and usually its Nope so back to the shipyard I go. I work on what I had planned for the day till 9:30 and I lay out what I'll be doing the next day. Ok so I promised you More on this later, so here it is. My mentality is preparedness and I have an uncanny ability to visualize things in great detail I see what I have to do in my mind and I figure out how I'm going to do it before I even start working. I figure out the most efficient means to an end and I stick to that plan like Glue.
Doing this lets me make the Most of the time I have. Sometimes I will plan several days ahead because I know what I can and can't get done with whatever time I have for that day so things like planking a ships hull I know I can't get that done in a 6 hour time frame, but I know I can get at least 1/4 of it done in that time so it may take me 4 days to plank that ships hull. I know for 4 days ahead what I'll be doing and how far along I should be at the end of each day. I am a steady worker, I don't take breaks. I work through the time I have Quickly and efficiently yet I do it Smoothly and its a well known fact that Smooth is fast so that's how I get a lot done in a short amount of time. I don't let my mind stray to other things while I work that will lead to daydreaming and that's wasted time. when I'm working on something I'm focused on the task at hand and nothing else. So does all this work for me yes it works very well. I do sometimes get side tracked, we all do because none of us are perfect, but that happens to me when I let other things get in my head while I'm working. Planning and focus and some determination will go along way to keeping those gremlins at bay. Will it work for you? I don't know, only you will know that. For me new Ideas come when I am sitting down at lunch, on the drive to customers locations, while I'm in the men's room, while I'm looking over others work here on the forums or on the Net in general. Ideas for improvements can come at anytime when they do come write them down and work them into your planning for the next days tasks, but try not to think of other things while you work leave that stuff at the doorstep to your shop, remember we are trying to maximize output on a minimal amount of time without compromising good clean work. Sometimes an idea will pop up and you see a better way to do something while your working on a task if it saves you a couple min time do it. if its going to extend your time where you wont get what you want dome then you have to make the call. For me I don't do it, but I do store it away and may do it on the next build. I stay the course no matter what and that works for me. So there you have it some things to point to are below. I hope I can help you find a better way to use your time efficiently and effectively in all this mess.
1 Take time for you
2 Visualize what need doing
3 Plan ahead
4 Work efficiently
5 Work steady
6 Focus on the task at hand
7 Stay determined to finish your task in the time you have.
8 The most important thing HAVE FUN!!
? On a serious note, it's so very refreshing to read of all of your experiences and I realize I am not alone in this way. I think a lot of it comes from my dad as well. How I grew up as a complete arseh*le* of a kid to inherit, develop and practice the same traits and skills I swore to the powers that be I would never ever emulate! He's forgotten more than I will ever learn and he's still a font of knowledge and experience. Funny how my own son will tell me I was right these days every once in awhile and even knows which way to turn a screwdriver 
