How Do You Get Through Boring, Monotonous Tasks?

[Pat Barry]

Julie, you need an apprentice!

[Michael Dunn]

Listen to music.

[Greg Portland]

So, how do you cope?

If a task is taking a long time then I ask myself if there is a better way. Perhaps packing up the wood and renting some time on a wide belt sander is worthwhile. For large amounts of planing consider having your mill surface all 4 sides (S4S).

[Larry Browning]

Using your example of sanding; you have obviously fallen for the untruth that woodworker's dread sanding. This is a myth perpetuated by abrasive manufacturers and their 'sanding accessory' brethren. Sanding is the phase when you get to put your personal stamp on your work. Your attention to surface preparation says a lot about your care and skill as a woodworker. Getting a smooth open plain on that table top. Getting just the right amount of burnishing on that ebony accent. don't fall for the pack of lies perpetuated by special-interests that sanding is a tedious chore to "just get through". Embrace this most critical step to your creative process . . . . that is unless you're one of those people who sand to 180 and then spray plastic (read poly) all over your furniture to make it look "good".

Glen has hit on the right approach for any supposedly boring task. Find something about the task that you can latch onto as extremely important and that without you doing a superior job of the task, the whole project will fail. Not being bored is all about attitude.

[Michael Dunn]

To help me enjoy sanding more I bought some Festool sanders. There abrasives are outstanding and surprisingly well priced.

[Chris Padilla]

Sanding is boring and monotonous but I enjoy seeing and feeling the wood come alive as each grit is progressed through.

If you're finding problems standing, get yourself a nice mat to stand on...it really helps A LOT.

Perhaps the most boring, mind-numbing, tedious sanding I've ever done was when I took a bunch (13) of shop-cut walnut veneers at ~3/32" and sanded them all down to 1/16" on my drum sander. I took my time, cranking the wheel a 1/4 turn (1/64"), and running each piece through twice per height adjustment. I also had the sander conveyor running at its slowest speed. The dust collector was howling, the sander was howling, and it took F-O-R-E-V-E-R to get everything sanded. However, the results were F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C and all the veneers came out beautiful and dead-nuts on at 1/16". I now walk past that piece of furniture every day and 3 years later it still looks good and I'm reminded of the work I put into it and how it was all worth it.

[Jeff Duncan]

There are a couple posts questioning the time spent sanding? I don't quite get this as I didn't see in the post anything about the size or scale of the project? If I'm doing a kitchen it can take me an entire day to sand just the doors....and yes that's after going through the widebelt. Then you have drawer boxes and cabinet parts.....lots and lots of sanding!

Now as to the question at hand.....headphones with either music, or books on tape as the others mentioned, for two reasons. First off your hearing, the sander may not be all that loud, but that monotonous tone for multiple hours, especially if you use a vac, is NOT good for your long term hearing. And second, and far down from the first in terms of importance, is to keep your mind busy while doing the drudgery

good luck,
JeffD

[Jim Neeley]

If I had to sand gobs of parts, I don't think it'd be an issue...like many men, I can turn my brain completely off for several hours at a time with no problem at all. It's like the joke that always comes up when a wife says "what are you thinking about", and the husband says "nothing". It really is...nothing. Space, no conscious thought.

They really *don't* understand that, do they David? <g>

[John TenEyck]

To enjoy sanding more I try to do less of it !

John

[ian maybury]

To David's - 'boring' in my experience tends to be more about how we relate to the task than an inherent characteristic of the task. More in fact a reflection of our own state of mind - of our urge to be doing something else while doing what we need to do. 'Split' mind if you like...

It's possible believe it or not to get 'into' seemingly boring tasks and have them become highly satisfying and enjoyable. The requirement is to immerse ourselves in the task, or put another way to cultivate the ability be comfortable with the relatively still mind that follows from doing something that doesn't require much thought. it's not something our societies tend much to cultivate, but it's in fact a critical learned skill. Opens the way to all sorts of interesting insight, makes room for it to come through and be heard....

This book is a classic on the topic of mindfulness: http://tiny.cc/st4dvw

ian

[Ben Hatcher]

The key to distracting yourself or just spacing out for a few hours is how you set up your work. If you set up your station so you grab from one side, do your operation and move to the other side, for example, you can groove your body into the motions and let your mind wander while the hours fly by.

[johnny means]

I dance while I sand. Preferably 80s music.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm with Rod and David, skip sanding as much as possible and use a plane, but the tedious tasks exist elsewhere Dry fits come to mind for me. Personally, I relish those tedious jobs. I woodwork for fun, and as a release from reality, so a monotonous task just gives me the opportunity to let my mind wander without the normal boundaries that the job's stress creates. The last one that I did was pull all the nails that were left on the woodshops roof after the layers of shingles were removed. It was a good time, because I could just think about anything. Another thing that works for me at work, is to try to find little ways to make the job more efficient. Spreadsheets can be tedious, so I learn obscure excel functions that might make it all more efficient.

Yup, my wife is right, I'm weird.

[Mel Fulks]

All of these methods work. I do think its easier to apply them on jobs that were thought out well enough that you know that drudgery has been minimized. Unnecessary drudgery is torture.

[David Weaver]

It's possible believe it or not to get 'into' seemingly boring tasks and have them become highly satisfying and enjoyable.

I agree, I would hand rip, plane, mark and dimension every board if I could do it on every project. On the projects I want to build, I do exactly that. Hand tools only. I see often that doing routine work with hand tools is awful, boring, stupid, etc. But when they are properly set up and you have the grasp on technique as opposed to it just being a butt dragging on the floor level of exhaustion, it's really much much nicer to do that work by hand, think about the entire process, build it stick by stick and mark off of the progress.. see it all develop, etc, than it is to rush through the dimensioning.