6 Ways to “Unstick” Your DIY Project
Motivation can be surprisingly fleeting when it comes to DIY projects. The excitement of breaking free the first rusty bolt of the engine swap can dwindle to a full puffy-cheeks exhale as you notice the oil you leaked from pulling the valve covers soaking into the concrete floor. Always buy oil dry at the same time you buy RTV. But I digress.
It doesn’t matter how or why it happens, our projects just get stuck from time to time. For me, it’s the 1988 Honda XR600R restomod I started earlier this year. I look at it every time I go out into the garage, have notes in my phone of what works, what has been done and what the next steps are, along with what parts I need and where to get them. And yet. . .I haven’t done anything on that project in months. If we are being honest, there is no real reason. I’ve spent money that could have gone to this project on other less-pressing items.
So how does one break out of a slump like this? In the past I’ve used a variety of methods, but this group of six have been the most effective. Use, ignore, or adjust at based on your own projects and needs. And share a comment with other tips that have worked for you as well.
Throw a party
It sounds mighty strange, but in reality if you gather a group of your friends around a project there is bound to be enough conversation to put some fresh fuel into the mental project car fire. Hearing other people’s thoughts or opinions about the work you’ve completed and what needs to be done is a fun way to look at the mountain of a project before you and pick your hiking path. Even if you already know your plan, talking it through again with the right group can really bring the drive to pick up tools again.
Get Organized
Sometimes projects grind to a halt because it all gets to feel a little overwhelming. It’s very easy to end up with a bench or floor—sometimes both—covered in greasy, grimy bolts and bits. At times leaving everything just so works, but if the mind gets distracted for just the wrong amount of time, the whole situation quickly becomes a messy game of pick-up-sticks that no one wants to play.
It’s the pits. Rather than trying to pick up where we left off, sometimes it’s best to just take the mental hit and completely reset. Pick up all the nuts and bolts. Clean everything, put away tools, layout the bits and pieces again, this time in the order they’ll go back together. This all effectively re-primes the charge that can propel a project forward again with a big burst. It doesn’t feel like a lot to just clean, but sometimes it helps make decisions.
Sell it
One decision you might make when a project stalls out is to magically turn what is currently your problem into someone else’s problem. Put that way, it’s shocking that this possible solution ever works. Then again, there are a lot of people like me out there who will happily come and pick up whatever old vehicle problem you have, and occasionally pay for the pleasure. There is no shame in admitting that a project has run it’s course for you. We all get different things from project cars and sometimes the lesson to learn is when to call it quits.
Make a list
If that last one scared you a bit, I’ll dial back the suggestion to sell it all and take up golf. Instead, take about the same amount of time it would play the front nine and just take mental stock of your project. Write down what work has been done, what you planned, and what is left, then sort it all out. Use this to chart a course and make your plan to move forward. All projects move at glacial pace at one point or another, having a list is occasionally the only way to visually see progress. Lists can be helpful or overwhelming. Again, chose the right tool for you.
Treat yourself to something nice
If you have the means (or at least the temporary credit limit), sometimes the spark to jump back in can come from buying something you had previously been withholding from yourself, whether for valid or less rational reasons. A slight splurge spend on a new tool can make that rust repair easier, or buying the nicer part or piece for the next task at hand can be a little carrot when the mental stick hasn’t been effective. It’s worth a try. A new tool or part never hurt, right?
Just do something
Screw the plan, throw out reason, pick something about the project you’re excited about doing and do that. This is actually what brought me back to my XR600R recently. I think I just got distracted multiple times in multiple directions, and needed to see and experience a nice jump forward.
The seat cover was just the thing. A good quality gripper cover over new foam is trim work I find fun. The material is pretty forgiving, and just a few staples or a little heat with a heat gun can solve most odd pinches or creases. The whole ordeal was just a few hours even when I needed to clean the seat pan, and the bike’s look completely changed when I slid the seat on. It was one of those moments where, after cleaning the bench, I took a moment to stare at my accomplishment before shutting off the lights for the night.
Spending the rest of the night remembering my plan for the bike has renewed the drive to work on the 600R’s needs. Who’d have thought it would be so simple to unstick this one?
Never has an idle project. My OCD is such I can’t leave something apart.
I have had over night wrench sessions just to get the job done.
If I did a full restoration I would go crazy.
Go crazy or die from lack of sleep, food, or that all important liquid refreshment. I’m like the article – get frustrated when things go wrong and walk away from it for awhile.
I think that’s the sane thing to do. Pulling an all nighter is not the smart choice in my opinion. Unless you’re not getting to work in the morning otherwise, your efficiency and quality of work does have a drop off point…
Food still flows and I have done many overnighers in many areas like being at raced and being up for a couple days. Child birth will keep you up. You had better not sleep with the wife in labor.
Most of this was when I was younger. I get things done pretty timely now as i prepare to have the tools and parts all ready before I start something and it has been a few years since I pulled an engine.
Also I have a band of mechanic buddies we can work like a crew and get things done fast. We pulled a hot 428 out of a GTO in 20 min and had it on the ground. We have done it a few times and we play our part.
My .02 having done this for a long time:
1) get a GLASS whiteboard for your garage. This is my go to for what’s been done, what needs to be done and another column for “stuff to order”. It’s a lifesaver. Specifying glass because some of what’s on there will be there for months and the regular whiteboards need to be bead blasted after that amount of time 🙂
2) I always have a warm up act when I walk into the garage before starting the real work. Get organized, change a bulb, vacuum. Basically something mindless that I can do while thinking about the real work.
3) Try to wrap up the day on a good note (if possible). Going to bed with a broken head bolt is a nightmare. If possible, try not to leave the garage with a feeling of dread.
Bob
Excellent points, amigo. I oftentimes give plans a thought while sitting in the easy chair, when going to hit the rack. Putting a list together on everything from solvents to loctite or consumables is useful. Planning certainly helps.
I have a sixth suggestion: quit spending so much time reading Kyle’s lists and use that time to – go out and DO SOME WORK ON YOUR PROJECT! 😁
I’ll allow it, but only because you’re right! Haha
😊You’re a good man, Smith!
Sometimes you can’t figure how to do something, but if you just start doing it many times you’ll see how to do it. You just have to start.
Jesse James says don’t let your butt hit the couch, literally. Having done several frame-off’s, my big one for a stall out is just go clean. Erase any agenda, roll the bulk of the hulk out of the way, and put EVERYTHING away, then sweep/blow down the shop. Force yourself not to be distracted with “work”. Oddly, this places a bit of distance between you and the project at hand, and you get to thinking about some of the small things you could do. Then you have a nice clean spot to do them when you get back to it.
Also, don’t discount the value of futzing. I have done a shocking amount of working on my “day off” in pajama bottoms and flip flops. Just wander on out there with a cuppa and go, “well, hell, I could paint/blast/clean lay out X thing real quick” and the next thing you know, you have the thing you were rolling around in the back of your head for a week done in spite of yourself.
Mostly, remember, the couch (and the damn phone) is the enemy!
I kinda disagree with the “roll the bulk of the hulk out of the way” part – unless you immediately roll it back after sweeping. To me, things that are “in the way” get attention (worked on) but stuff that’s stashed out of my way gets ignored even more. But maybe that just me! 😛 As with most things, we all have our own foibles, practices, strengths and weaknesses. The key is understanding what works best for yourself.
Easier to clean that way! My shop isn’t very large, so most big chunks get mounted to casters. Wheel out- clean up- wheel right back in.
My path through the logjam is to schedule a day in advance to tackle the beast and be diligent about not letting anything else take precedence on that day. I have weeks to emotionally brace for it and am committed to crashing through when the day arrives. Without fail, the hurdle is hurdled (?) in less time and with less drama than I’d been fearing.
I wish I could live in your dreamworld, Tinkerah! 😂😂
You’d be more than welcome DUB6, I know we’d hit it off and share much laughter. Be warned, I lead a charmed life and you may not want to leave!
My suggestion is to have enough cars that if a project stalls out you still have something to go have fun in! 🤪 Of course then I can’t figure out which project I want to work on. Yup, off to the golf course….
I enjoyed the article…I utilize the “power hour” concept of getting out in the garage for an hour and doing something..anything.. including cleaning up my work bench and/or sweeping the floor if I am uninspired or too fatigued to tackle anything complicated. Just to move the project along. I mark the days I do this on a calendar so I can see trends and potentially reward myself..
I have always found making a list works best for me. Sometimes it’s a list of what I want to get/buy, some times it’s just a list of what I need to do. To me, there is a lot of satisfaction crossing off things I’ve done.
I am 80+ and I discovered early in life the two things that often help me to complete a project. You have named one of them =”make lists”. Crossing out of a done item brings great satisfaction. Plus with the list it breaks down what otherwise might seem insurmountable and far too large a chunk to digest. Breaking any job down to it’s component parts seems to make it more manageable and allows for many success events as you cross off each item. I suppose I should add a third =do research on how or what to do before you start. A great deal of grief and wasted time will result from research.
I am the perfect candidate for this article.
I have several project cars that are not running and have been stagnant for way too long.
I was able to get out of this funk before so I can do it again.
Thank you for sharing all these great ideas to get back at it again
One thing I will add is playing music as loud as you want, headphones or not, helps get that energy and passion flowing again for me.
Plus the loud music covers up the “words and phrases” that seem to get said out loud as one a) busts a knuckle, b) can’t get the sucker to budge, c) finds that ‘the solution’ really isn’t, d) gets wriggled clear under the vehicle and then can’t reach that socket the rolls away – well, space and time limitations keep me from going through the entire alphabet here, but you all know most of them anyway! 😜
After stalling out on an XL350 project at about 85% finished, I resorted to the “sell it” option. I basically gave it to a deserving friend, who could benefit from all my investment and much, much labor. It made me feel better to pass it forward. It was also a life lesson: make sure before you start a project that the final result will be worth it.
Still think that the best investment is erasable white board- put it where you can see it every time you are going in and out of the garage and don’t erase the completed stuff- just cross it thorough with a contrasting color- I like to write the “to do” in black and cross out in red- reminds you of the progress you have made and goads you into doing more. All my projects are constant “fix”, “race”, “break” and repeat- so there is never a day that the list is “done”. Just my 2 cents.
I absolutely LOVE this one Stevie B. Ordering from Amazon today 🙂
Fight small battles! Take one system at a time and finish it. It also helps to have all the new parts on hand before you start taking things apart, it’s helps motivate you to finish
Got a 68 Corvette with the dash apart for the 10th? Time. Faulty wiring,
Replace with new harness. Bulbs fall out when assembling dash,
Wow now the damn wipers won’t work and etc. The biggest problem is this brain that thinks it can fix it then this 82 year old body says “not so fast buddy!”
wipers on my ’68 c3 worked stopped working after a friend had the dash out for other repairs. found the ultimate cause: wiper motor ground circuit at the ‘service’ switch. figured it out over a year’s time. resolution is a dish best served as soon as possible!
DO SOMETHING everyday, no mater how small, it keeps it fresh in your mind, and keeps your project moving.
I am at that “Old Man” part of life that I no longer take on projects. My work is confined to repair and maintenance. My maintenance schedule is “I will eventually get around to it.” My repair schedule is broken down to two areas. How does the car run without an immediate repair? i.e. So the reverse light does not work. It does not effect the way the car runs, the car is old enough to be exempt from State inspection and I don’t even drive in the dark. That moves this repair to “I will eventually get around to it.” There is the “in need of immediate action repair.” i.e. The air filter housing is coming loose, turning and then contacting the accelerator linkage causing it to bind up and idle at 3,200+ rpm. Its like having a one speed cruise control. Hope a new pinch bolt/nut on the air filter canister base secures it. Simple enough. Do it. My present repair and maintenance schedule sort of moves most of these things into the future and to the next owner. It may even make this a project car for the next owner.
I am also at that stage. Just can’t get under the car for long periods – vertigo gets to me. Lots of little things to do but I take it a bit slower these days. Retiring before the end of the year so will be earmarking days to spend in the garage.