How The Heck Do You Guys & Gals Do It ?

[Mojo]

I was sitting here this morning looking at pending orders and my schedule and thinking of personal projects I have myself. This got me wondering  how in the heck do all of you manage your own personal projects ?

I am once again getting booked solid again with orders and now have a growing list of things I need to do. Install eavestroughs on the house, replace the floor in the boat, renovate the interior of the coach, install privacy fencing, finish the trim work in the main bath, and on and on. I have the materials for everything I just do not have the time.

How do you all manage ?

Chris

[Mike]

I know exactly what you meen Chris  
When i mived here 2 1/2 years ago i needed alot of work on the place   First i started outside were everone sees. But then i was set back.   Actually i had been out setting retsiner wall brick right when i had my stroke. I had to finnish ater.  I yad slot of yard  eork had to install boat davits. Had to build a dock. Not personally  ought a boat lift heavy had to have ot installed on pilliings.
Got that done last winter then i redid the kitchen cabnets. Abd started to do the tile took it up in the kitchen and sunroom.   Thats when ingot thebnew boat sll work has gone to that.  Oh and before i did my other boat. Now i hackve to do the tile i sant to do the entire house and i e been waiting to pain inside sfter. Indid laint outside. Built teo  patios roof  and inneed to remodel one bath. Oh and instill
Need to finnish insude my  shop wich id just insulated walls.
So ya i know what you meen.
Ps that said all weekend ive. Een doing pontoon boat seats any lick ill be done today but ill probly need another day.

[Rich]

Good question. Actually, manage? Not always. Many times, it just gets put off until I either have both the time AND the enthusiasm to do it or until it becomes a necessity that just must be done right away.
That's if I forget to do the one thing that has always been a huge help to me; A running list of to-do's that I keep either on the refrigerator or in my pocket planner. With today's technology, I'm sure this can be electronic somehow, but the important thing is that once it's written down, not only is it there as a reminder, but it's also a stress relief since it's not  a burden on my mind. To take it a step further in the right direction, I prioritize each item so no #2 or 3 job gets done ahead of #1.
Also, if you're anything like me, anticipating a less-than-pleasurable job can cause me more mental anguish than actually plunging in and doing it, and once I'm in the mode, I'm more ready to tackle the next, similar job than if I wasn't doing anything like it.
Finally, sometimes, I have to admit that doing the personal job is not worth the time I would have to take away from my business to do it and calling in someone else makes more sense. Here, I think it depends on how much I can earn in the time I'd have to think about, plan the job, buy the necessary supplies (or maybe tools also) and then, in some cases do the work in a fashion that follows the learning curve. I also ask myself if I would do as good (could be better too) job than the professional.
Hope this is something you can use.
Rich

[JuneC]

Oh, I just don't get it done.... My 10 year old Toyota 4Runner has the leather peeling off the driver seat and I've had a new half-hide, perfect match from Keyston, in my sewing room for about 9 months now.  There it sits.  It'll be dried up before I get to sew a new skin and install it.  Our boat has been sitting on the hard (on blocks) for 17 months now - that's right.... since a year ago June and I'm half done with the upholstery.  And, BTW, that's the only reason it's sitting on blocks.  The engines and all other systems have been ready to go for about a year.  The "new" upholstery will be old before I get it finished.   I had intended to take the month of November off and finish it since it's my slow season, but I just picked up a new and important account.  So guess what.  Frustrating!  >:(  That's what it is!

June

[Mike]

Odd June noveer  to be slow. Ive found september her though october was slower this year. And. Over noe im seei g llenty of snowbirds returning.  Today i only stapled
Some skins i finnished yesterday and didnt fet any sewing done inslackex off and went to dennys for breakfast the place was packed with birds.

[fragged8]

hahah get my jobs done

I've had enough by the time I get home, I have a classic mini cooper in my garage
that has been waiting for me to finish her off for about 8 years..

rich

[Peppy]

I book time to work on it well in advance, and work like hell for a couple of days every 6 weeks or so. I'm really looking forward to my 2 weeks at christmas I can devote to the new boat the Sea Hare. I finally got the hardwood floor finished (3 1/2 years later) so I'm free to sneak time for upholstery.

[west coast]

What ever needs to get done around here gets done when I have the energy. Did most everything a few years ago so its just maintenance now and we go camping at least twice a month in camping season so that really tightens up the repair window. I sure do not have the energy i used to even mowing the lawn twice a week is a challenge some times.

[Mike]

Mowing the laen here is teice a week in the summer now it goese to teice a month at most.

[mike802]

Wow!  It makes me feel so much better to hear I am in the same boat as everybody else  ;D  Some of you guys dont know how good you have it, I mean a full year to work on the outside of the house, here in Vermont we have to hurry up and get everything done outside within 6 months, then concentrate on the inside.  I hate hiring help to do projects that I am capable of doing, but hiring is the only way it gets done, so I guess I am not capable after all. 

My bus conversion has taken priority over all other projects, it is such a huge undertaking and also a huge lawn ornament.  My house gets picked at as time, money and energy allow, often stuff gets put off until it absolutely has to be fixed, or I just cant stand it any longer.

I inherited my grandfathers boat and it just sits there, I have no time to use it, I have several restored cars that just sit, I have no time to drive them.  My garden is usually over flowing with weeds, I have no time to pull them.  I could go on and on, all these things I have bought, or built so I could have a life have become monuments to remind me that I dont have one.

I am building the bus so I can park it at the lake and get away on the weekends and also so I can participate at trade shows without having to get a hotel.  There is that fear in the back of my mind that once completed it too will just sit their because I wont have the time to use it. 

[Rich]

I could go on and on, all these things I have bought, or built so I could have a life have become monuments to remind me that I dont have one.

That one sentence is a major statement on life in America these days and could very well be the start of a new topic where we try to figure out why we all are working our a**** off to afford the "good" things of life that we end up having little time to enjoy! Sometimes I think we're better off having less stuff, with more time to enjoy it, than mortgaging our time and energy trying to support stuff we then have no time to enjoy.
I know this is not a new concept by any means and I also wonder how effectively it can be done especially if you are married and raising children. You probably have a lot of push-back from everyone in that case.
Rich

[Mojo]

Please do start a new topic Rich.

I have several questions I would like to ask. Such as - Is it me or does society seem to be working longer hours and more days a week in order to make a living or to afford the nicer things in life. Was it like this for our parents ?

Chris

[Mike]

Chris i rember one dsy ehen i was s kid in california back in the 60s my dad had. Ought a t ew truck and camper.  We were going to take off for the weekend. Were litterly out the door headed to the truck when the phone in the house rang. I was thi king dont awnser it. But my dad went  ack in it was his. Oss sho asked him to work saturday  so our trip was off.   He did have alot of money but we had fun when we could. He got the camper because having a pool abd our house turned into the extended fsmily hangout for the weekend. One weekend we were just gone in the camper.

[mike802]

That one sentence is a major statement on life in America these days and could very well be the start of a new topic where we try to figure out why we all are working our a**** off to afford the "good" things of life that we end up having little time to enjoy! Sometimes I think we're better off having less stuff, with more time to enjoy it, than mortgaging our time and energy trying to support stuff we then have no time to enjoy.

I have been giving that some serious thought lately.  Seriously considering selling off both finished projects and unfinished ones that I will most likely never get to.  Spending quite time at the lake is looking better and better all the time.  Unfortunately prices keep going up and up and pay is staying the same, or getting lower, so working more becomes necessary just to keep up with the necessities of life.

Was it like this for our parents ?

I know it wasn't for mine, or my Grandparents.  My Grandfather worked for a local Chevy dealer as a parts manager, he worked the standard 9 to 5 with his weekends off, owned his own home had a nice camp on the lake and enjoyed hunting and fishing, always had a new car that was part of his salary and a boat for camp.