Getting Things Done
If you are like me, you have quite a few things to do, and it seems that there are never enough hours in the day to get them all done. Some of these things involve 40k, some of them don't, but at some point they all need to get finished. (Heck, some of them need to get _started_!) I've recently gotten one project done, and I'm working on some others. I'd like to share with you my successful techniques for getting things done, in the hope that they will, in turn, help you to get things done. If you have techniques for getting things done that I don't mention here, please take the time to share them with me. If they are good and I have your permission, I may post them here for others, because we can all use help from time to time.

Before I get started on explaining the techniques, I first want to make a note of something. The techniques are opposites, so it may seem that I am giving contradictory advice. Actually, both techniques are effective, but some people will find that the first technique works better for them than the second. Others will, of course, find the second technique to be most effective. For that matter, at different times, you may find one particular technique to be more effective for you, and another one will be more effective later. So how do you choose? Try one. If it doesn't work, try another. If you are already doing something and find it's not working, try doing it the other way. Sometimes simply shaking up what you are doing gives you the productivity boost you need.

These techniques are effective at getting projects done. It generally doesn't matter what kind of project it is, these will help. Obviously, this website is about Warhammer 40k primarily, so most of the examples will revolve around 40k. In 40k, you might need to paint some models or a whole army. You might need to build models from scratch or to convert them in different ways. You might also need to work out a better army list or to figure out solutions to the way that last army beat you at game night. You might want to build terrain or a gaming table, or even write up some background fluff for your army.

These big trees were the result of a single bash
of about 2-3 hours. If I'd planned my steps better,
I probably could have done it a little faster by doing
another step while waiting for the last step to dry.

Bash it all in
The basic idea of the Bash it all in technique is that you are going to get a lot done on a project (painting an army, for example) in one big chunk. This might be something like spending a couple of hours on a weekend doing nothing but your project. It might be something on an even larger scale, like taking an entire day or weekend to do the project.

The advantage to the Bash it all in technique is that it creates momentum. You (hopefully) crank out quite a lot of work on a project. If a single bash is enough to finish the project, congratulations, you've gotten it all done and you can now work on other things. If you'll have to do more than just one bash, at least you've gotten a bunch done at once, which can help keep you motivated to keep going and get it all done. In addition, by devoting a fairly large chunk of time to the project, you have a little more efficiency. You don't have to get out the models and the paints and prepare your workstation more than one time. Once everything is set up, you can just go, go, go!

The disadvantage to the Bash it all in technique is that it requires a big chunk of time. We all have busy lives and it can be difficult to find a few hours or a weekend to do a project. You may find yourself putting it off simply because it is difficult to find a big enough time slot.

These and other buildings were done in
a couple of bashes, with some planning
between sessions.

Plod Along
The Plod Along technique is the polar opposite of the Bash it all in technique. It can be very difficult to find large blocks of uninterrupted time in our hectic schedules. Plod Along says, "that's okay, don't bother." There are frequent times in all of our schedules where we have a few minutes here and a few minutes there. By breaking up our tasks into (very) small chunks and preparing them to be picked up at a moment's notice, we can make use of that wasted time. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and all that. I am an amateur writer, and I read a very interesting piece of advice on getting writing done. If, on your absolute worst day, you can manage to crank out 1 page of writing, do it. If you write even 1 page every day, you'll have a good-sized novel at the end of a year. Writers that produce a novel every year are known as very prolific writers. That's the power of one page a day, and that's the power of the Plod Along technique. It's not much at the moment, but it doesn't cost you much either. You just keep adding up the little bits you get done throughout the week, the month and even the year.

The advantage to the Plod Along technique is that it is easy to find a few minutes here and there. Just 10 minutes per day adds up to more than an hour per week. Even if you find the task tedious (I don't enjoy painting, for example,) it's not such a big burden if you break it up like that. It's also not much of an interruption in your life. You might have a few minutes while you are waiting for your dinner to heat up. You might get up a few minutes early, or work on your project while you are waiting for a TV program to start.

The disadvantage to the Plod Along technique is that set up time can ruin your productivity. If it takes you 5 minutes to get everything ready and you only have 10 minutes, you are wasting half of your time setting up. Planning and preparing ahead of time can make huge differences here. If you know you are going to be painting your army, put together a package of the models you need to paint next. (You don't have to drag the whole army around, just the next group or two.) Make sure you have brushes and paints and paper towels and have a rinse cup ready to go. If you are likely to have a bit of time here and there while you are traveling, make the package easily portable. That way, when and where you have free time, you can whip out exactly what you need and get to work on getting things done.

A second disadvantage to the Plod Along technique is that it can seem like you are making little progress, so sometimes it is harder to stay motivated. There are two effective ways around this. The first is to plan your project in very small chunks, so that it doesn't take much to finish one step. This way, when you complete a step, even if it's something small, you feel like you are getting somewhere. (Ie: don't just have the plan of, "I'm going to paint my whole army." Instead have the plan of, "I'm going to prime all of my Troops.") The second way to keep motivated is to try to increase your frequency of doing the project. This may even involve breaking it down into even smaller steps that you can finish in just 2-5 minutes at a time. 2 minutes is about the length of a commercial break during a TV show. It's the time it takes to heat up some coffee or tea in the microwave. If you have everything ready to go and a plan for it, you can get a lot done in 2 minutes. Then, 20 minutes later, you might have another 2 minutes to go at your project.

Most of my Firewarriors were painted on-sprue
using the Plod Along Technique.

Benign Neglect
Both of the above techniques work best coupled with the philosophy of Benign Neglect. I remember reading about a child violin virtuoso being interviewed. She was asked how she got to be so good. She explained that she found time to practice by "neglecting" other things, such as cleaning her room. She would basically do the bare minimum of cleaning her room so that she would have more time to practice. A clean room basically wasn't important to her, so she just did enough that her parents wouldn't get mad. A similar idea is to prioritize the project (during the time you have set aside to work on it) such that nothing interrupts you. This is a very effective technique that efficiency experts stress for people in the business world. If you answer an email, field a phone call, look up some information, then answer another email, you'll take a lot of time and not get much done. If you set aside 10-15 minutes to do all your email and let voicemail get the phone during that time, you'll get a lot more done. If someone comes to interrupt you (assuming it's not an emergency) you can let your roommates/friends/significant others/parents know that you are working on a project and tell them what time you'll be done. If you do this politely but firmly, (and don't set too long a time limit) they will usually be very understanding and will go out of their way to avoid interrupting you during the given time.

Planned Neglect
You can take the Benign Neglect philosophy further with some planning. For example, if you want to spend a couple of hours painting models on Saturday, but you know you need to wash your car, wash the car on Friday instead, or make plans to wash it on Sunday. Similarly, if you want to spend that couple of hours painting on Saturday, but you think that your significant other will want to do something with you, make plans. If you make plans to be with them (on say, Friday night) and tell them that you want to work on your project on Saturday, they will be more likely to be understanding. Basically, make your plans ahead of time. Either put off other work until some time after the project (but make specific plans about when you _will_ get to it) or get the work done before you will be starting the project. That will limit interruptions, which will improve how much you get done in the amount of time you have given yourself.

This mycetic spore was put together in a couple of short bashes.

Hopefully these tips will help you get things done, regardless of whether they are 40k-related or not. The quicker we finish our non-40k projects, the more time we'll have to play 40k, right?

If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know

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