Essay
I have written before on the impediments to making progress on a layout. I will share those impediments and how I have overcome them lately. First thing to bear in mind is something the Ancient Greeks taught us - "Know Thyself" - This sage bit of advice is inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. One might recoil and ask "model railroading and an Ancient Greek bit admonition - are we not getting a bit into the weeds?" I would posit a resounding - "no".
I only make progress on my layout when I take an inventory of my feelings and attitudes.
Am I feeling a bit lazy? Lazy feelings tell me that I just do not want to put much of an effort into my modeling that night. Fine. The solution to making progress on one's layout is to just bite of a tiny bit of work on your layout. Paul Dolkos once said the way he made progress on his layout was to discipline himself to work on the layout almost daily - it did not matter that the amount of work is not huge, it is the accumulation of time spent in small increments that moves the layout ahead. Tracking with Dolkos' advice is that old chestnut - " Q - How do you eat an elephant? A - One spoonful at a time".
And if you are not going to work on your modeling or layout daily, then perhaps this tip will prove helpful: if your goal, say, is to work on the layout or modeling four times/weekly, then schedule yourself - in your mind, not on paper necessarily - for five weekly forays to the basement or garage. Same goes for visits to the gym - you want to work out four times per week - you probably should aim for five visits (this gets you where you want to be when unexpected events get in the way of meeting your ostensible goal).
I also took stock of the fact that I wanted to make some progress on the NMRA AP program. I have three AP awards to date but I need quite a few more if I am ever to achieve the MMR® designation.
What is really holding me back? In my case recently, I had a hot glue gun that I kept plugging into the wall but which would not work. I kept telling myself that the outlet was defective or perhaps a circuit breaker had been tripped. Once I got honest with myself that my treasured glue gun was kaput, I went out and bought another better one and work began anew. Also enjoyed working with a hot glue gun that was not encrusted with glue.
Another way to make progress is to commit to finishing or rehabbing a model for an open house that you are hosting. I hosted an open house for the MER recently and it was the line in the sand that made be embark on refurbishing my 1:20.3 engine house. Did I make my deadline? No. But the momentum of working toward the open house deadline kept me going once the open house commitment was done and gone.
Just not feeling like doing any actual modeling? Get on the internet and order the supplies you need to move your project(s) along. Buy a new tool if that helps matters. If your supplies can be found at a local hobby shop, art supply store, or crafts shop, get over there. Not feeling like going there yourself? Ask a buddy to accompany you. Heck. combine it with a meal at a local food shop.
Feeling discouraged by the mess on your workbench? Just go in and organize it a bit - no need to work on any model. Just clean up your mess. And be sure to have a litter basket, a few liners, a draftsman's brush, and paper towel and dispenser to get it done.
So, there you have it. Want to make progress on your modeling - "Know Thyself".
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