Need tips on keeping up work momentum

"The Swedish Bandit" (swedishbandit)
05/12/2018 at 11:16 • Filed to: Joy

I’ve been making really good progress on my project car for the last couple of weeks and it looks like a day for laying on some new paint is finally in sight.

However after spending the last week or so just sanding, applying bondo, sand again, apply bondo again and so fourth and so on I’m starting to feel a little burnt out and I can see the momentum of the progress dropping.

Anyone got any good tips on how to stay focused in situations like this? Would really like to be ready for paint within a week or so.

DISCUSSION (24)

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 11:24

i’d recomend taking a day off from it.... sounds to me like the tedious jobs are grinding you down... there is no cure other than stepping away from it for a bit

(or doing some other stuff that needs doing but isnt related to getting it painted for a day)

(i realize this doesnt help your timeline)

The Swedish Bandit > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
05/12/2018 at 11:33

You’re probably right (I know you are). I’ll think I’ll move on to fix the last bit of rust that’s on the car for now (wheel wells and floor boards). Hopefully that will keep the momentum up.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 11:36

you’ll get there :)

sony1492 > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 11:42

YouTube videos that showcase finished projects, or show them being tossed around a track.

The Swedish Bandit > sony1492
05/12/2018 at 11:46

Ahh, but then I’ll just spend the day watching YouTube, which is the exact opposite of what I wanted...

sony1492 > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 11:53

Make coffee and spend about 10 minutes finding and watching a video while it brews, oooor apply another coat and watch something while it dries. I watched drift videos that showed a bunch of boosted chasers to inspire me to finish my turbo project, and the same went for making wide fenders that are mostly bondo.

Monkey B > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 12:45

take the project one panel at a time. Shows progress during with attainable goals.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 12:47

Tasers.

Get someone to tase you every time you start slacking off.

The Swedish Bandit > sony1492
05/12/2018 at 13:15

I’ll give it a shot, what’s the worst that could happen anyway

The Swedish Bandit > Monkey B
05/12/2018 at 13:17

But when you’ve spent 2 days on a single panel and progress really doesn’t look much better than when I started. Ahh! I’m pulling my hair here!

The Swedish Bandit > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/12/2018 at 13:19

You sadistic bastard! But truth be told it would probably work, I always find myself working the best with a tight deadline and under a lot of pressure

AfromanGTO > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 14:17

Cocaine from Scotland?

The Swedish Bandit > AfromanGTO
05/12/2018 at 14:33

Does it have to be the Scottish kind or will cocaine from Poland suffice?

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 14:54

And it could be worse... like hold your cat or dog ransom until the job is done.

The Swedish Bandit > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/12/2018 at 15:03

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I think taser is plenty enough...

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 15:21

And if you don’t get it done by Monday, each day after, we’ll just pick a different family member to abduct AND tase...

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 15:23

The worst thing that could happen is if y-BZZZZRRRRRRRRTTT

The Swedish Bandit > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/12/2018 at 16:05

You wouldn’t!....

The Swedish Bandit > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/12/2018 at 16:06

Can’t you just leave me alone!

:Crawls into fetal position:

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 17:14

Yeah... the taser probably wouldn’t have enough charge to do all that.

So I’ll just resort to the ole electric cattle prod.

Fyreballs > The Swedish Bandit
05/12/2018 at 21:49

Paint is completely dependent on prep quality. Take as much time as you need to achieve the smoothness that you want, because you will have to live with forever.

I can do it, and I hate doing it. Compromise is not my thing.

AfromanGTO > The Swedish Bandit
05/13/2018 at 16:43

Well the Scottish kind will have you seeing unicorns, and the polish one will cause nightmares of communism.

The Swedish Bandit > AfromanGTO
05/14/2018 at 07:23

Unicorns it is then!

The Swedish Bandit > Fyreballs
05/14/2018 at 07:29

Well I wouldn’t say it’s completely dependent on prep quality. You also have things like painting technique, equipment and paint quality.

But I get what you’re saying. I’ve painted this car once before and was overall pretty happy with the final result so I have a pretty good idea on how much work I need to put on prep.

This will never be a showcar, right now it feels more important to get it all together and start driving it instead of having a perfect paint job.