Tackling the Woodpile

When I worked with musicians on a daily basis, they would often use a phrase, "I'm going to have to woodshed this." Basically meaning they head out to the woodshed and practice a piece till they got it right. They wouldn't come out till they nailed it.

But when I talk about tackling the woodpile, I'm thinking of how we handle 6 cords of wood dumped in the driveway. Three large dumptruck full piles of split wood for the winter.

This is just four cords... 

If you look at this huge pile of wood, it's enough to make your back hurt. It is enough wood for an entire winter, plus some extra.

Every day, progress.

Each morning, for 15 minutes to half an hour we bite into this chaos and create order as we stack the wood into the woodshed. It may only be six or seven wheelbarrow loads a morning, but it is progress. Babysteps toward the end goal. The woodshed is getting full and the piles are getting smaller with the goal of getting everything stacked before snow flies.

Digging frozen wood out of the ice and snow is a real drag.

Ok, you have a fireplace and wood.  So what?

Well obviously this isn't a blog about long cold Upstate New York winters, but it is a blog about voice work and my home studio.

It's the same mentality though. Don't look at the whole pile of work to be done or you'll never start. You'll grab some hot cocoa or a glass of malbec and call it a day. Just do one thing to move you forward each day.

It's the same old story you've heard before, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." But for me, if I think about the whole journey, there's no way I have the energy to take that step. The thought of tackling the Appalachian Trail seems overwhelming to me, however taking a few steps down to the path, well, that doesn't seem too hard.

Nibble Nibble like a Mouse

Each day I move my business forward, it can be the simplest thing; write a blog post, email a past client, create a list of people to send marketing material too, do an audition or two.  Simple small things that move me forward. At the end of the month or the end of the year, I can see how far I've traveled!

One of the great things like an Un-Conference like FaffCon is that it gives you goals and also gives you the chance to look back at what you've accomplished since the last FaffCon. For me it's been the creation of this great studio space as well as doing more and more work and keeping busy. Tiny nibbles each and every day.

I hope that isn't too cheesy.  (Mouse pun intended...)