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Building a shed is a finite process with known steps that produces a tangible result. If you spend time on it, you will make forward progress and be able to se

Building a shed is a finite process with known steps that produces a tangible result. If you spend time on it, you will make forward progress and be able to see it. If you are a knowledge worker, this is frequently lacking. You might spend months or years working on something without knowing of you'll succeed. You might get stuck (eg, debugging) and not be able to see any progress for long periods of time. You might be blocked from making forward progress because you are waiting on other people. And at the end of the day, what you accomplish might not be very visible or might end up being finished but useless. So it's nice to do something where you feel like you actually did something.

discardable_dan 5y ago
This is why I cook. At the end of a day where I make no discernable progress, spending time on a tangible product that is done in a finite amount of time helps unwind a great deal.
- savorypiano 5y ago
  I often look at the trash can full of vegetable scraps and feel proud of the work I did. In the end, I built something I wanted.
p0d 5y ago
Very true. You can achieve quite a bit in one day working with wood.
sho 5y ago
“Of course I don’t have to do this,” one middle aged man said, carefully cleaning the table with a damp cloth. He put the cloth in a little pouch, sat down beside him. “But look, this table’s clean.” He agreed that the table was clean. “Usually,” the man said, “I work on alien religions… I catalogue, evaluate, compare. I come up with theories and argue with colleagues here and elsewhere. But the job’s never finished. Always new examples and even the old ones get reevaluated and new people come along and come up with new ideas about what you thought was settled. But,” he slapped the table, “when you clean a table, you clean a table. You feel you’ve done something. It’s an achievement.” > from Use Of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right. And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. - Admiral William H. McRaven
  - Tempest1981 5y ago
    He also mentioned courage: “Without courage, men will be ruled by tyrants and despots. Without courage, no great society can flourish. Without courage, the bullies of the world rise up. With it, you can accomplish any goal. With it, you can defy and defeat evil.”
    - 29athrowaway 5y ago
      There are many gems in that speech, but I took the excerpt that was more relevant as a reply. I am not militaristic but I do believe that discipline makes your life better.
  - soperj 5y ago
    Is it wrong that I've never achieved any satisfaction or sense of accomplishment from making my bed?
    - lucumo 5y ago
      No. It usually even fills me with the opposite feeling. I don't like sleeping in "made beds". They're very constricting. A made bed may look tidy, but I don't look at my bed other than when I go to sleep.
    - 5y ago
snarf21 5y ago
Well said. Also, you get to decide everything. There are no meetings or planning sessions. You can change your mind halfway through and no one else cares. Control can be quite satisfying.
- pontifier 5y ago
  Wait til the city finds out he's been building a shed without a permit, permission from the neighbors, an architect to oversee the project, etc...
chestervonwinch 5y ago
It's important to maintain a sense of self awareness about it though, i.e., recognizing you want/need to focus more well-defined task where the outcome yields a sense of achievement because you need a break from some larger/fuzzier goal.
wwilim 5y ago
You are also in full control of the project for the entire duration. A few months of your work won't end up in the trash bin due to a C-level decision
IanCal 5y ago
I spent a few days moving several tons of soil from bags to planters, and it was fantastic. Very rewarding for being everything my job usually isn't. Clearly defined, known progress, you just get stuck in and go.
bcrl 5y ago
This absolutely meshes with my own experience. After years of software development, I find there's a very different sort of reward associated with building out my own fibre network. Once a cable is up on the poles and spliced in, it's a physical real world object that works and makes the customer happy. It's not like software that's never finished with so much internal state that is invisible and constantly needs improvement.

discardable_dan 5y ago

This is why I cook. At the end of a day where I make no discernable progress, spending time on a tangible product that is done in a finite amount of time helps unwind a great deal.

savorypiano 5y ago
I often look at the trash can full of vegetable scraps and feel proud of the work I did. In the end, I built something I wanted.

p0d 5y ago

Very true. You can achieve quite a bit in one day working with wood.

sho 5y ago

“Of course I don’t have to do this,” one middle aged man said, carefully cleaning the table with a damp cloth. He put the cloth in a little pouch, sat down beside him. “But look, this table’s clean.” He agreed that the table was clean. “Usually,” the man said, “I work on alien religions… I catalogue, evaluate, compare. I come up with theories and argue with colleagues here and elsewhere. But the job’s never finished. Always new examples and even the old ones get reevaluated and new people come along and come up with new ideas about what you thought was settled. But,” he slapped the table, “when you clean a table, you clean a table. You feel you’ve done something. It’s an achievement.” > from Use Of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks

29athrowaway 5y ago
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right. And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. - Admiral William H. McRaven
- Tempest1981 5y ago
  He also mentioned courage: “Without courage, men will be ruled by tyrants and despots. Without courage, no great society can flourish. Without courage, the bullies of the world rise up. With it, you can accomplish any goal. With it, you can defy and defeat evil.”
  - 29athrowaway 5y ago
    There are many gems in that speech, but I took the excerpt that was more relevant as a reply. I am not militaristic but I do believe that discipline makes your life better.
- soperj 5y ago
  Is it wrong that I've never achieved any satisfaction or sense of accomplishment from making my bed?
  - lucumo 5y ago
    No. It usually even fills me with the opposite feeling. I don't like sleeping in "made beds". They're very constricting. A made bed may look tidy, but I don't look at my bed other than when I go to sleep.
  - 5y ago

snarf21 5y ago

Well said. Also, you get to decide everything. There are no meetings or planning sessions. You can change your mind halfway through and no one else cares. Control can be quite satisfying.

pontifier 5y ago
Wait til the city finds out he's been building a shed without a permit, permission from the neighbors, an architect to oversee the project, etc...

chestervonwinch 5y ago

It's important to maintain a sense of self awareness about it though, i.e., recognizing you want/need to focus more well-defined task where the outcome yields a sense of achievement because you need a break from some larger/fuzzier goal.

wwilim 5y ago

You are also in full control of the project for the entire duration. A few months of your work won't end up in the trash bin due to a C-level decision

IanCal 5y ago

I spent a few days moving several tons of soil from bags to planters, and it was fantastic. Very rewarding for being everything my job usually isn't. Clearly defined, known progress, you just get stuck in and go.

bcrl 5y ago

This absolutely meshes with my own experience. After years of software development, I find there's a very different sort of reward associated with building out my own fibre network. Once a cable is up on the poles and spliced in, it's a physical real world object that works and makes the customer happy. It's not like software that's never finished with so much internal state that is invisible and constantly needs improvement.