The wonderful feeling of lack of urgency
I've had a bit of a breakthrough this week with the project. I don't mean that I finished something or that I resolved anything that i'm working on I mean a personal breakthrough. That of the mental kind (no I have not had a mental meltdown!). As a project manager for a long time my day job has been trying to shivvy things along and get things done as quickly as possible so the project can move onto the next stage and while there are a lot of project management skills that are useful when doing a renovation of this kind that sense of urgency has been leading me a little into frustration, which will no doubt lead to stress down the line.
What I have realised is that this is a journey and I really should be enjoying that journey, even the jobs that are very mundane and take a long long time. So this weekend I did not worry about how I'm still working on the bulkhead problem, or even that I haven't finished any particular job yet. I had been thinking of putting the bulkhead down for a bit and doing something else so I felt like I had at least achieved and completed something, however small, but in fact I decided to keep plodding along with the bulkhead, very slowly.
Much to my surprise and pleasure it paid off. I spent the entire day digging out the rotten wood from in-between the old fiber glass tabbing rather than just cutting it away which would have taken a fraction of the time. Its still not complete but at the end of the day I felt so satisfied with my progress. Particularly so because as I got rid of all the rotten wood I discovered a layer of foam underneath the bulkhead confirming my original plan is the right one. A lovely little boost to the confidence.
It is surprisingly refreshing to work on something without a deadline and without that constant feeling of I must progress quickly. Focusing on the task at hand and knowing that you are doing a quality job is just as satisfying if not more so than feeling quick progress.
Next weekend is the Royal Solent Race weekend with the Contessa's meaning that there will be very little zen like focus around and more frantic thrashing around and I'm only referring to the racing!
