Overcoming the build doldrums

Making the wind again fill our sails

It happens in long builds. A time, often near the middle but not always, when a project seemingly grinds to a halt. But not for lack of work. No, the effort continues unabated. But time-consuming minutia, inherent difficulties, and convoluted steps take time to resolve. And this work, often hidden from plain view, belies the progress made.

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Image by Maria Teneva via Unsplash.

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When making something, visible progress inspires. We find purpose in what we create as it takes shape before our eyes. It’s often loud and impressive work, as much spectacle as creation. 

But brute maker strength necessarily gives way to subtle refinement as all the critical little steps take over. Now is a quiet time filled with nuanced action, thought, and troubleshooting. And instead of sweeping advances, these actions are frequently technical and ostensibly intangible. Except they are very real; they pave the way for all the coming steps and ensure a job to completion. 

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Take, for example, house construction.

At first, significant progress ensues. Workers envelop the site, clearing the land, digging the foundation, and filling forms with concrete. Not long after, shipments of framing studs and plywood arrive. And then, by the miracle of builder ingenuity, the house goes up seemingly overnight, if only in its bare-bones form. A dwelling is born! Surely its new inhabitants will be moving in shortly.  

But then it happens. 

From the outside looking in, progress stops. Days soon turn into weeks as the former bustling job site, once full of framers, roofers, and other tradespeople, dwindles to a veritable standstill. A few random workers come and go, and an occasional inspector in a white city truck stops by. Small groups meet out front, talking, often pointing at plans or clipboards, but little more. 

Inside, the labor continues. Running wire and pipe. Drywalling. Finishing work and painting. All the tasks required to make a house a home. 

This time can be frustrating for the homeowner waiting to move in. Why is it taking so long? Nothing seems to be happening. Surely another could do this quicker. 

The onlooker does not always appreciate the time it takes. And even the maker can be daunted as the build doldrums envelope all.

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Without walls going up (figuratively or literally) and the buzz of all those handy tools, the build doldrums affect morale, even for the maker. We imagine a finished project and want to get there. Soon, with no dramatic leaps toward that end goal, our enthusiasm wanes, and we grow tired of the build. 

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Many a project succumbs to the build doldrums. Without sweeping progress for motivation, interest dissipates, and thoughts wander. Other matters take precedence, and we step away from the project to address them.

The build is now hindered by one of the most dreaded questions in making:

Where were we when we left off?

Retracing former steps will be required to begin again, creating another barrier to completion. So we hesitate further. And if more time passes without significant work, completion fades from our thoughts. And we resign to setting it aside - forever.

But we mustn’t.

No, the build doldrums cannot overcome us - if we persevere. 

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A project worth doing is worth doing right, as they say. So one must remember these middling middle steps are just as essential as all that came before. But how to keep going when all seems for not? 

Just as a project transitions into a new chapter, so must our source of motivation evolve. 

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It's futile to look for the dramatic progress of old. In the build doldrums, such progress is nowhere to be found. No, we need a more nuanced reason to keep making. 

We started a project to begin with because of something. So we must remind ourselves. We look to the end, reminding ourselves of why we started. And inspiring us to get past the now.

Perhaps we needed what we are making. Or we simply wanted to try something new. Or maybe the very challenge of such a technical build motivated us to do it. We want to know if we can. And the only way to see it through is to keep doing what needs to be done - every last detail - until the end.

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Our motivation is now not the sweeping external transformation of the build, but instead is our inner self toiling for nothing more than the satisfaction of knowing we can do this. 

So we do. And we make, with the wind again filling our sails.

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Until next time.

JRC