Inertia & Rhythm

I have bouts with inertia. Huh?

For me, the regularity of being in the shop is important to keeping me going out to the shop. 

For example, I've been in the shop for four straight days now (it will be five tomorrow), and it just seems easier every day to be out there. The first day out there was a little tough...I hadn't been in the shop for a week or so. I didn't have forward momentum yet. I was a little stuck. But as the days have progressed the movement from day to day has become more fluid. I end one day with just enough leftover "to do" to get started with at the beginning of the following day. When I come into the shop the next morning, I slide right back into things and pick back up where I left off.

And this leads to a related concept...rhythm. The rhythm of being in the shop day to day not only increases my enjoyment of being there, it also greatly increases the quality of the work I produce. The more rhythm I have in the shop, the more easily I move from one task to another. I know where things are in the shop. I'm intimately familiar with setups on my table saw and jointer. Tasks are done more patiently as I'm not re-remembering "how", but instead I am executing the task at hand.

Now all of this is not to say that when I have forward inertia and rhythm in the shop everything always goes as planned. I still make plenty of mistakes, but I am more patient in recovering from those mistakes. Their magnitude seems diminished.

Anyhow, these concepts aren't revolutionary. You hear this stuff talked about a lot (Newton had a theory about it!). Putting it in writing just helps me remind myself of its importance. I'll get "stuck" again at some point for sure. It's part of the way life works. When I do, just remind me of this blog entry if you will.