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Two weeks waiting for a part taught me to stop filling every minute
Last month, a client's full house rewire got stuck because a specific fuse box was on backorder. I had nothing to do on that job for fourteen days, and it drove me nuts at first. Instead of scrambling for small tasks, I forced myself to just sit and think through my next five projects. I sketched out wiring diagrams, called suppliers to check stock, and organized my van from top to bottom. When the part came, I blasted through the main job and hit the ground running on the others because everything was ready. Now I block off an afternoon each week just to sit and plan, no tools in hand. It feels wrong to not be 'busy', but that empty time saves me hours later. Seriously, when did we decide that moving fast all the time is the only way to get things done?
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tylerr227mo ago
Did your baker friend keep up that habit of sitting with his thoughts after the oven was fixed, or did he slide back into constant motion? Seems like the real test is whether we build in that quiet time when there isn't a broken machine forcing it.
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ward.fiona7mo ago
That bit about moving fast all the time reminds me of my buddy with his bakery. His oven died last year, and while waiting for the repair guy, he just sat and wrote out new recipe ideas instead of panicking. Said it was the best menu he ever made.
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ruby_foster937mo ago
That line about it being "the best menu he ever made" really hits, @ward.fiona. It's funny how being forced to stop is sometimes the only thing that lets our brains catch up. (I got stuck in a movie theater once during a total power outage, and the random conversations in the dark were way better than the film we'd paid to see.) Makes you wonder what we're all missing by always having a device or a task to fill the quiet.
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