One of the the things I’ve been figuring out is how to dedicate time to Upper Cut on a consistent basis. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a rewarding but demanding full-time job and a wonderful family that I like to spend time with. Even without a business, woodworking is something I enjoy, so I definitely want to set aside the time for it. So how do I make sure I dedicate enough time to the business in a healthy way?

Step 1: Talk to the wife

If your spouse is supportive of your hobby, they’ll help problem solve this for you. Support comes in many flavors: from encouraging you to spend the time doing something you enjoy to actively participating in the shop. I don’t think I’ll get my wife in the shop, but having her support is great. She doesn’t complain too much about my shop taking part of the garage, she’s bought me tools as gifts (and done well), and she’s asked for more projects – which means she likes what I’ve done so far. She’s also showed off my work to friends, and asked me to build things for them as gifts. This appreciation for my work feels good and motivates me to do more. Over Christmas Break she actually said “we need to get you a dedicated shop!” So yes, I drew up my dream shop – I’ll share that in a future post.

Step 2: Find a shop buddy

If you have someone to join you in the shop, that’s sometimes better than working alone, depending on your personality. Two people working in a shop at the same time might get busy but it will also be friendly and helpful. Someone to bounce ideas off, someone to push you forward, and someone to help get those big pieces through the saw.

Step 3: Be in the shop when you’re not in the shop

If you can’t always be in the shop, you can be connected to your hobby and building your skills. There are great podcasts to enjoy during your commute or workout, and blogs to enjoy during your lunch hour. Stay connected with your hobby, stay up on the latest trends, tools, techniques, and materials, and get inspired! I listen to Wood Talk Online in the shop. Wacky, huh?

Step 4: Create two lists and check them twice

Create two lists of things you need to get done in the shop: one is for projects, and the other is for maintenance. Assign a T-Shirt size representing the time investment for each task, and prioritize your lists. Anytime you get free time for the shop you will have a backlog of things to get done. You’ll know when you last did your maintenance, and you’ll spend your time wisely. I don’t like to work on large projects in lots of little time slices, I’d rather fill those with the small projects and do the large projects in long stretches. It doesn’t always work out, but the continuity of work helps me. For example, if I have three hours free on Wednesday night, I’ll probably skip over my Priority 1 project, and go straight to Priority 2. I bet I can complete a pencil holder in three hours, especially because I know I have the stock ready, and I have already built quite a few. If I’m in maintenance mode I could just go in the shop and put away 10 things (thanks Wood Whisperer and Grandpa Olsen), or I could complete something from the maintenance list.

So, how has this worked out for me? Well, I’m still working through the steps.

1. Step 1: My wife supports me turning Wednesday nights in to “shop nights”
2. Step 2: My buddy Greg wants to join me
3. Step 3: I’m already crazy about blogs and podcasts
4. Step 4: I need to make my project lists and maintenance logs – when those are done I might publish them

How do you dedicate time in the shop, stay connected to your hobby, and maximize your time?