Right now between work, home improvement stuff, and working on a new record, I have too much stuff out there that s incomplete and it s unsettling to me. List making is so important to keep shit straight. It breaks down big things into smaller things so you can intellectually process it better, and it forces you to prioritize. Not to dwell on the kid thing too much more, but since being a dad my discretionary free time œchunks changed from œhours to œminutes as units of measurement, so I look at projects in a more fine grained way lately. Not sure if that helps? But it s a big part of how I tend to manage time these days.

Write out Lists, use other people to help keep you accountable, try to set out to complete something in the time you have so you don't leave stuff sitting around. Reduce scope. Work on being mindful. Get lots of sleep.I do all of these things poorly, but it's good advice.

Oh, I totally get that and I don't mean to sound all pretentious about perfection. I'm an acceptable but not great cook and I'm fine with that. My wife can cook circles around me as can many of my friends. Plenty of other things like that as well. I can usually fix my own plumbing but I'm certainly not a perfect plumber by any stretch and have no desire to be. Tons and tons of shit like that. I think with projects I set out to do, I can definitely get hung up on doing the best job that I can and it's probably detrimental a lot of the time.

eliya wrote:Set attainable goals for you to do list. For instance, I need to wire some stuff for my studio. It's a job that will take multiple days to complete. If I put in my to-do list "wire shit up" then it won't get done. If I write "spend two hours wiring shit" then I know I need to spend two and only two hours on it and be done. Same goes for other things that are necessary but not as fun, like fixing gear, studying music theory, practicing, etc.This is great advice. I would extend it and use project management task work to try and break every thing you want to do into a series of achievable tasks (with sub tasks as needed). Set out a schedule of time to accomplish each task/subtask and sum them all to get an idea of what a reasonable amount of time will be to complete the whole project. Use some kind of list or project management app/site/software to mind the list and schedule. Put them into your calendar on the regular where you have time, so you know when to start doing X task. Most importantly, check them off when they are done. That last bit is important because it trains your brain to keep coming back and examining project scope, do another subtask, get things done, etc. For project management work, there are a number of free apps out there with a variety of different approaches. You can try to do something kanban-based like Trello or something more western project management based like bitrix24. Whatever fits best with your work style Also, sleep. Try to get enough.

I m interested in this. I feel like I m pretty lazy but its rare for me to go straight home after work, and only because I either go to the practice space or the gym for a couple hours every day. We do almost all of our cooking at home on the weekend, aside from a roast chicken or something on Thursday when we get sick or leftovers. Though this saves us time during the week but we end up cooking things like stews or curries or whatever that are good leftover, so it not uncommon for me to be at the stove for hours upon hours. I like cooking, so I don t mind, and my wife doesn t like cooking, so she doesn t mind spending 20 minutes cleaning up after it it gets her out of cooking for the day, but she also does laundry for the week while I m in the kitchen. We pay about $50 every other week to get the lawn mowed. I know it s cheaper at the end of the year to just buy a lawn mower but I really can t stand doing that shit. One thing I do wish I had more time for is reading books. I probably read as much as I did before I got a smartphone, but it s all short articles and such. I got Audible this year and really like it, mainly because I have a desk job, but it s not the same as reading. I tend to listen to more biographies and nonfiction, but I prefer to read fiction- I just don t like listening to it.

elisha wiesner wrote: n.c. wrote:yeah. my workshop is an unholy mess right now and i can't deal. Clean your shop. It took me years to really learn this. It might feel like you're wasting time but having an organized work space is crucial. Same goes for a studio, jobsite or really anywhere you're working. I'm inherently a slob so this is hard for me but I do it. yes. this. in my defense, i moved into my grandfather's house and the wood shop was packed with broken tools, coffee cans full of every damn size roofing nail, boxes of random, etc. my uncle still keeps his motorcycle in the shop (he's gotten too fat to ride it, but it's plugged into a trickle charger for 3 years).side question - who keeps their equipment boxes? stereo equipment, mics, rack gear. i've got all these cardboard boxes that i feel like i'm supposed to hold on to even though it's highly unlikely i'll sell any of it.

the perfectionism thing is an interesting topic. i think it has a lot to do with the scope of your project and the degree of perfect that you expect to achieve. if you plan to make cabinetry your life's work, then committing to a series of prototypes is a small thing. if you plan to renovate your kitchen and make your own cabinets this one time, you should accept that there will be small imperfect details that you will have to live with.

Sometimes it's smart to pay someone else to do a thing. Even if you want to do it. Time = $$$, hey, they did a good job and it wasn't that expensive to have them do it...I learned that this year.n. c. wrote: side question - who keeps their equipment boxes? stereo equipment, mics, rack gear. i've got all these cardboard boxes that i feel like i'm supposed to hold on to even though it's highly unlikely i'll sell any of it.I kept my Bryston boxes, but even when I sent the pre-amp in for a warranty repair, I paid 60 bucks for a new box. UPS can screw you with a "you used a used box to mail it, it's not covered" thing.Throw boxes away.

elisha wiesner wrote: TomWanderer wrote:Do not strive for perfection in the thing that makes you happy. This is just me...but I would much rather have something finished and feel good about it (music wise) and move on that fiddle with something until the thrill is gone. Perfectionism is ruin to me. I disagree. Maybe perfection is overkill but I strive to do my best. With most things, I'd rather not do them than half ass them. I want to improve each time I do something. For me, setting the bar high is the only way I ever actually get good at anything. There are tons of things I'm mediocre at and that's fine but the things I really love doing, I want to be as good as I possibly can. Even if I'm not perfect. and I never am, I feel good knowing that I try to be.I get it! From what I have seen of your work, the strict attention to detail and extreme level of craftsmanship is evident and inspiring. I'm just saying that's not the way everyone works...and there is a very large space between mediocre and perfect. Being comfortable with results that are less than perfect has been helpful to me.

If there s a warranty/return period for stuff, I ll hold onto packaging. Otherwise, I discard it. The perfection thing is a gray area for me. I think a person s reasonable expectation when doing something new is to end up with a product that has some things that you d do differently next time. If it s worth doing a next time, you should focus on improving those things. Your improvement may not just be a quality issue; it could also be finding ways to work faster.Do not get hung up on perfection if it means not completing stuff! Between work, home improvement and music stuff I have probably half a dozen things that are dragging on because I m thinking about the œbest way to do things and can t make a decision. In general, I find that making a decision, even if it s wrong, at least means you ve given an issue some consideration. But this is an issue that I need to work on.+1 to cleaning your work area.