The Shop Chaotica

I realize I keep mentioning my shop in some of my blogs. So I thought it would be good to share a visual of my shop. I have tried all my professional life to maintain a well-organized workspace, but at this point in my life I have given that up. The reality is I work within a constant state of chaos. I make constant attempts to have a place for every tool, but rarely are the tools in those assigned places. I keep trying, I’ll have big organizing days, but it never seems to stick.

As someone with a dyslexic brain I often wonder how this brain affects the shop. The dyslexic often has trouble holding sequences. I have difficulty following a method or set pattern. As soon as the tool has finished its job it is set down without thought of where it will be when I’ll need it again. In fact before I’ve put it down in my mind I am already using another tool. So dropping the first tool on the first available surface needs to happen. I do try to use all the hooks and drawers I’ve created for holding my tools but I am now at a place where I am not punishing myself for my chaotic style.

I guess if I never got anything done this might be a problem, but I do manage to be productive in the mists of all my clutter. In some ways I think it reflects the clutter inside my mind. I can be working on a woodworking project and then get a poem or story idea, or all of a sudden get an idea for a photograph I want to run out in the yard and shoot. I work very hard each day to stay on task and to try and just make notes of the ideas that come in the middle of the project at hand.

So to all of you out there thinking order will increase your productivity keep at it I am sure it will and as soon as I figure it out, I’ll let you know how I did it; got organized that is. For now I will dwell in the shop or place I call Chaotica (I thought I created the word).

Jeff back in the shop!

Okay I did the google search for the word "Chaotica" and of course it is a Industrial Metal Band, so I had to link them. There song "Unstable" is the song my shop would write if it wrote on its own. Now I am not a big metal head music lover but I do like loud angry music when cutting wood. So if you don't like loud angry music just use your imagination. Think table saw, wood planer and dust system all running at once. For those of you of the younger gen., I know there is much louder and even more aggressive sounds than these guys, but many of my thousands of readers found the Beatles harsh! To those folks listen at your own risk.

Chaotica, "unstable" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhMSHUqQc8A