The Importance of Shop Routines

Routines are an important part of life. Sometimes they get a bad rep because they are associated with burn out or being "stuck in a rut" but in reality routines are important. They become a practiced way of carrying out the day so that things run smoothly and, very important in the shop, safely.
In the end, Ive come to believe that routines are the stepping stones to the stage of work wed like to call mastery.
I started thinking about this the other morning as I was getting into my shop. his time of year the first thing I do is fire up my little kerosene heater and the fan that circulates the heat around the shop. Then I work my way through a couple little housekeeping things I do every time.

I sweep in the morning, First thing every morning when I come to the shop. It isnt glamorous, and usually it certainly isnt photograph worthy, (though I do like watching the different colors of shavings from different species of wood mingle together) but its a necessity to my work in the shop.

I get more out of sweeping than just a cleaner shop floor. Its a simple way to pass a few minutes and start to get my head in the game. Its an activity that doesnt take a lot of concentration and I can begin to think my way through the order of things I plan to accomplish that day.
I work out of a tool chest during the day, when Chris Schwarz was starting to sell the idea of working out of a tool chest he shot a video titled "How To Use A Tool Chest" and you might think that unloading my bench planes, chisels, mallets and marking tools might be the next step for me, but its not.
I just dont like hauling out everything in the morning and putting it all away at the end of the day. As the day progresses I pull out the tools I need for a task, and when its time to change tasks, I clean and put away those tools and pull out whats next. It makes my clean up at the end of the day quicker if Im only cleaning up tools from one task and not the whole day.
One thing Im not great at is planing my shop days by task. I have a project on the bench and an order of attack to finish it from start to end, but Im weak on saying things like, "on day four I will dovetail the three drawers and glue them up." For me the process is a little more organic.

The problem with more organic is there are times where I will lose a detail from one day to another. So I will make my own to do list, especially as I approach the ending stages of a piece where all the little details that are juggling in the air have to come together in the right order and when I miss a detail, I tend to say bad words.
That way the next day in the shop, after I finish my sweeping, I can review my list and start making sawdust all over again.
Ratione et Passionis
Oldwolf

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