How to get your Mojo back

Reader warning:  This post may be a pep talk for myself, but who can't use a good pep talk sometimes, right?

So the winter time is clicking along and I either have a case of vitamin D deficiency or am just feeling overwhelmed by the scope of the project. Either way, I feel like I am trudging uphill with a 100 lb sack on my back.  I have been feeling like my momentum was zapped.

I have done a few things to help get over this January hump. I joined a local gym. The reason is three-fold.
1) To meet people in our new community.
2) To sweat and be warm and then take a hot shower.
3) To get some muscles before we tackle the house building portion.

Seriously, this was a great idea and all three things are working great. But I still feel like our project is losing steam.

So, in true Christy form, I made a list.  I think this new lifestyle needs clear goals that are attainable quickly. I mean, building a house is a good goal but your list can't be "build a house". In my old job, I had projects that got finished and went on stage. They were done. There is no "done" now. But as a I sat thinking about what I now consider to be an "old life" I realized how much I missed that daily checklist. The daily tasks that drive projects forward. It can be really hard to drive projects forward when you aren't sure about the next step.  The inclination is to hover in what feels more comfortable, but, stay there too long and boredom creeps in. Your sense of purpose creeps out.  Stagnation kills momentum and that is where I am.

So back to my list. I made a list of goals for the month of February.  (I am going to try to avoid weekly or daily lists for now and start with lists of slightly bigger picture things)  

• get the infiltration pit done.  This includes digging the pit and digging the trench to run to the pit. Filling in pit and trench with gravel and back filling with soil.  Step one of this is to convince the county that the soil test we have is adequate. Failing that, we will have to find a lab that will deal with us directly. They want to deal with Geo-techs and they cost about $500.  Whew. 
• Final Inspection on the shop! 
• Build and install a metal lumber rack on the outside back wall of the shop. Then sort and organize huge wood pile. 
• Find someone to cut down some trees that will be good for house posts and get them to a kiln for drying. We found the mill that will kiln dry them to inspection grade, but we need to find a man with a good eye and a big truck. ( don't all girls need this....) 
• Finish the inside of the shop before it kills us. We have gotten soo far but you know what they say, "the last 20% takes 80% of the time".   We found a pretty great table for free on the side of the road and grabbed it. We are going to alter it to be a fold down welding table. It will live up on the wall until we need it and then swing down for use. The cool thing is that the table extends from 5 ft out to 10ft. So we will need to build a leaf to insert of larger projects. We were given a nice table saw in rough shape, so we need to clean it up, de-rust it, and build out a catch table.  And lastly, we need to build a cart for a metal cut-off saw and bench grinder. 
• We have a downed Doug fir that we need to cut up into chop-able pieces for firewood next year. 
• Clear an area for the new wood shed. That means deciding on a spot and and leveling it, or clearing trees. 
• Search craigslist for more doors and windows, so we have demensions when we start framing. 
• Find someone with more construction experience and have a sit down with our house plans. Asking questions and begin to realize what needs to be done to frame the house. It is much more complicated than the shop. 

That is a huge list! As I read it over I wonder if I have shot too high.  I don't think so. For me, the point of a list is to focus your mind and be able to visualize the next steps in a project. You must shoot higher than you think reasonable. That is the way to push yourself with purpose.  Thanks for reading all the way through this diatribe. I feel better just having it written out. I would love to hear any tips you all might have for driving projects forward.  In the meantime, we will just keep chugging through the grey mist.