Given limited time to work on my layout (often late at night after putting kids to bed, reading, etc.), does a to-do list help? The benefit of having a list is keeping me organized and consolidating purchases; however, having multiple different projects to do is also enjoyable. I like different aspects of this hobby but can't decide whether to create a list.
If it helps do it. Is it OC? Probably, but who cares?
Nothing says you have to complete items in order on the list (other than OCD of course!). Have a list of projects to jog your memory when you get the time to work on them, and work on whatever one you feel like at the time. Nothing wrong with that.
Mike
I have the same problem: very little time due to kids. Although my kids "help" ... I only keep a shopping list for my next visit to the train/hardware store.
Sometimes kids want to "build" sometimes they want to drive. Keeping a fixed idea of what I want to do next just frustrates me as kids of course never want to do what I want to do.
We walk downstairs and look around ... Then just pick what we want to do at random.
I did realize that I was buying things faster than I was using them. So back in November I made a promise to myself that I am not going to buy anything for a while ... Until everything else we already have is exhausted. Amazed at how much we can do!
NP.
If a "to do list" is your way of staying organized, why not? I keep a list of things I need to do, such as phone calls that need to be made, things that need to be picked up, people I need to contact, etc. I don't always follow it to the letter, but it does remind of what has been taken care of and what needs my attention.
As far as my modeling, I do keep a list of items that I need to get when I make the trip to what I call my LHS, which is about 30 miles, one way. I don't keep a list of projects, as I have many projects in various stages. The particular project that grabs my attention when I'm modeling, is the project that gets my attention. Tomorrow, or a couple of days later, something else might get my attention.
A to-do list, or notes, could be helpful while building your layout, to keep things going in a logical order, to help prevent tear-outs, because your forgot something.
Mike.
My You Tube
Yep. Having retired from a business that required keeping up on a half-dozen tasks at one time, and having lots of things to juggle even now -- writing a list helps me keep sight of what I want to get done.
It's too easy to have a project slip off the radar without a little jog to the memory.
The other thing that helps is putting all of the parts for a project in one container and labeling it. That keeps stuff from getting lost while you wait for the magic piece to arrive.
I enter notes and reminders on my analog wall calendar, and I also make a list of tasks that need to be done on the layout. The latter is also ordered because some things, to my way of thinking, are best done before others. A simple example would be a painted or applied backdrop. It is much harder to do after all the scenery and trees are in place. Another example, for a person in a bit of a rush to get trains moving, would be to fail to plane the splines on roadbed before applying the rails sections. When crafting splines, one almost never gets them completely flush across the top...one sticks out a bit over the others. Lengths of track won't lie firmly across one spline that rises above the others adjacent to it.
I tend to keep an electronic version of the list so that it is flexible. I can re-order steps in the construction, eliminate them, or add others that had slipped my mind.
When you think about it you are already using checklists. Every time you follow instructions for a kit or a device you are using a checklist.
I use checklists frequently. Like Paul, I use recipe cards for locomotives, both to see what I need to do and to keep track of what I have done. Even routine things like attaching a resistor to an LED go on the list because I have forgotten that little detail on more than one occasion.
Once the project is done the card goes into the box with the locomotive so that when I pull the engine out of the box I know exactly what has been done. Knowing the size of the resistor that was installed helps for future referance, and knowing the last time a locomotive was serviced is vital. Of course, keeping track of which decoder was installed and what the CV settings are is cruicial.
I also use checklists for various projects, big and small. I recently went through planning and acquiring all the bits to do LED layout room ceiling lighting. I now have almost everything needed to do the project (or at least I think I do - we will see when the actual work starts). I used my track planning CAD program to draw out the locations for all the components and the wiring. That allowed me for example to gauge reasonably accurately how much wire I needed and of what size so I'm not buying 200' of 12 ga. when I only need 100'. The wiring plan was one item on the checklist.
One small suggestion if you are going to make checklists and that is to refer to them each time you have completed a step. It's too easy to get into a rythum and skip right over important steps, like resistors.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I have lists. I have OCD. I have lists of my lists. Just kidding about that last part.
I have shopping lists. I have wish lists. I have To Do lists. My To Do lists are parts lists that state which models need couplers, snowplows, number boards, and other super detail parts.
As far as other stuff, I know what needs to be worked on. That list is in my head.
J…………
Sounds like we all went to different schools together. I'm so obsessive, I even keep a log in a spiral composition notebook with a page for each structure of the dozens I'm building so I can look back and find what colors I used, techniques I tried, and notes for the next one. It's enabled me to finish a Lunde or City Classics building in 10 days, down from 6 weeks. I think I may need therapy.
btw, don't know why my entries here are in micro-pitch. Can't find a way to adjust the font size. Help!
OK, this one came out awright . . .
To do lists are helpful in keeping you focused. Just remember to stop making the todo list at some point and start working on it. My mother worked at a radio station when I was younger, and a guy she worked with spent more time on his computerized work list than actually doing any work, saw it with my own eyes.. actually quite funny from the outside, but irritating from a co-worker standpoint.
That having been said, a list is also helpful if you have a friend or friends helping you build your layout.
I found a handy-sized dry erase board at one of the office supply stores. It has a tray at the bottom to keep the pens handy. It is in a corridor between the workshop and layout so it is easily accessed.
I used chart tape to divide it down the center, then the right half I again divided horizontally. On the left I write my short-term "to-do" items, things needing more-or-less immediate attention.
On the top right I place longer term on-going projects and a few notes related to each. On the bottom right I place "materials needed" notes that I can easily revise or copy to a shopping list to take with me.
Note cards are too easily misplaced, for me anyway, and the dry erase board can be easily updated, it is quickly accessed and the pens are kept handy for immediate use.
At a glance I can see if there is an item needing immediate attention or when I'm looking for a task to accomplish I can review the list since it is always in view.
For some of you in the smartphone crowd you can simply snap a pic of the board and you have your handy-dandy personal reference.
Happy Modeling, Ed
BMMECNYCMy mother worked at a radio station when I was younger, and a guy she worked with spent more time on his computerized work list than actually doing any work
I worked with that guy. lol but I must admit in some industries like broadcasting there are a lot of lists, play lists, lists of commercials to play, lists of songs based on weekly sales, etc. Television is similar. Lists of episodes scheduled to play, files which played which need to be deleted, files which need to be stored for replay .... Perfect job for certain people.
j...............
Yesterday, I made a list and it was quite helpful. Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I feared that lists would force me to follow them but that's not true since I wrote what needed to get done whenever time permitted.
There's no question that having lists is invaluable when ordering stuff to minimize on paying shipping costs, waiting for item(s), etc. Lists also have value at train shows so you know what to purchase.
Lists are great! With so much stuff going on in our world, how can we remember everything - or prioritize it?
Now, if you make a list to keep track of your lists............well, you might have a problem.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I make lists for shopping so I don't forget something. My to do lists are the same thing - a reminder so I don't forget. It's not a priority list. Nor do I do everythning on the list - sometimes I decide to drop something, sometimes it just never gets done.
For this hobby, I work on whatever appeals to me. Does this make me less efficient? Yes it probably does. But this is a hobby so I don't care.
Enjoy
Paul
there was a recent scientific america article claiming that google reduces the need to remember so much, freeing our minds to think about things more (e.g. problem solve).
lists have been doing that for centuries.
are lists a characteristic of efficiently minded people?
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
I've mentioned my priority list at least 28 times in previous posts, so it's obvious that:
Note that a priority list is flexible. A problem goes at the top, not at the bottom (after the operating TBM I keep threatening to build - someday.) Also, there's no law that requires me to do low-priority items in order or one at a time.
If you use it as a reminder, it's helpful. DON"T use it as a straitjacket.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Given that I am ADHD, if I'm not careful I tend to get distracted rather easily. I make a TDL so I remember what projects need doing. There have been many times that in preping for another project, I discover (or inadvertantally create) more projects. Good example of the inadventally creating: I was working on trying to fix some engine problems and I accidentally knocked a couple of sign pieces off one of my buildings. I had to stop and fix that before I could do anything else.
Additionally, given that the layout and I are not in the same place, I might only have a few hours at a time to work on projects so having that list allows me to take on a part of one item or another. (Examples: I will be putting a new view block building to cover a control panel that is mounted on the top of the layout itself. I needed to put sheet cork on the area to raise the building up somewhat. Using a little bit of time allowed me to get the cork installed. I am also planning to build a sand delivery and tower area as well. I needed to realign some trackage to allow that. A short amount of time was used to solve that problem as well. That also led to discovering another problem: The yard area slopes down. Another hopefully quick fix.)
If I wanted to do stuff according to some list, I would not have retired. This is a hobby, if some project dosn't get completed, or I forget to get an item, So what!
As long as you don't say anything in front of anybody, no one would know but me and I don't care.
A list will add pressure, and stress witch will remove fun
just thinking
kasskabooseThe benefit of having a list is keeping me organized and consolidating purchases; however, having multiple different projects to do is also enjoyable. I like different aspects of this hobby but can't decide whether to create a list.
Don't know never found the need for a list.. We always set aside "me time" to enjoy our hobbies and I would either build BB kits,detail a structure or the layout.
Taking some family "me time" to pursue our hobby interest may save a lot of divorces..My wife and I realized early in our marriage we needed "me time" to unwind and relax after a hard day's work. Our hobby time came after checking the kids home work and putting to bed..Say around 9:30pm week nights. That allowed us around a 1 1/2 hours of "me time".
Of course this bless ended when I went railroadin' for a living and would resume after my railroad career ended by laid off 6 1/2 years later.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"