Same Ole Same Ole

The past few weeks we have been looking at coffee tables.  We started with a three legged model and then moved to a four legged coffee table with an inlay in the top.  This week, we are looking at a plain Jane coffee table.

I have moved in this direction because it is how my work goes.  I start with something I haven’t done before (well, I may have done parts of it, but doing the whole thing is new).  This is a project that calls for a lot of thinking and trying.  Experimentation is the word for this stage.  Once something is made, however, I have developed processes which can be replicated.  I get a kind of order of work which I can follow.  I have developed this way of working because the jobs I am asked to accomplish are varied.

I might, at any given time, be working on a mower body or engine (or taking one to someone who can do what I can’t). I might be refinishing a piece of furniture or building one for the first time from the ground up.  I’m usually doing all these things in the same day as well as working out new jobs with new customers.  I have purposely developed my skills in this way so that I am not stopped by any particular downturn.

What this means is that I get interrupted quite a bit and must set something aside.  If I can get back into it quickly when I’m able to resume my task, it’s better.  Therefore, I work toward developing processes that are clear to me and easily followed.  A project like the coffee table for today is one of the things for which I have developed a routine.  It is the same ole, same ole.