Project brain

Blaze

Blaze

The Jeeper Reaper
Joined
Aug 9, 2005
Location
Wake Forest, NC
I decided this is a term and a real thing this morning. Much like a woman who has pregnancy brain, project brain affects men when faced with a large project or completion of a project.

I have been working on my Trans Am for about 7 years now and it is on the home stretch. I have it on the trailer and am trying to get the last few things done, alignment, exhaust, etc. Well, I need to get my trailer back to the shop for my guys to use it so I'm packing it all in one week. That coupled with the excitement of having my car back I have been forgetting EVERYTHING.

Monday I was going to pick the car up from the tuners, I left my straps at the shop. Buddy had to run me over his before I ran out there. Then I forgot all my baseball gear at the house for a game I was coaching last night. Had to run home before I went to the game. Then last night I was working at the shop and forgot my straps, AGAIN. This morning I had to run and grab my straps from the shop on my way to the alignment shop, and left my lunch sitting on the counter. And then after dropping off my car I forgot I was so low on gas and almost ran out. A 454 Burb doesn't like it when it only has a gallon in the tank and it gets 10mpg.

So who knows what else I'll forget today. I'm probably already forgetting what I've forgotten.

Yeah, project brain is a real thing.
 
My brain is usually so crammed full of stuff from work/projects/future trips that I forget what it's like to relax. Normally I'm right on top of everything and can function on 6 hours of sleep or less a day. Something about traveling and staying in hotels makes it more tolerable. Yesterday I was so disoriented once I got off work that I laid down at 8pm and went to sleep immediately which is very out of the ordinary. This morning I get up, check my schedule and then realized, hey I work for myself again. So I'm taking the day off to go kayaking. Fawk it. I need the recharge badly.
 
I have a notebook for about every task. This one is for packing for wheeling trips. I have similar ones for individual projects, and sometimes have one for busy weekends, as well as trips to Home Depot (screw Lowes!)

projectnotes.jpg
 
I have it too. I also have a problem of getting deep into a project and when I start to get burned out (usually 1/2-3/4 way), I begin thinking of the next project I want to do instead of focusing on finishing the current one.
 
CasterTroy said:
I have a notebook for about every task. This one is for packing for wheeling trips. I have similar ones for individual projects, and sometimes have one for busy weekends, as well as trips to Home Depot (screw Lowes!)

View attachment 247371
Click to expand...

My wife told me I needed to do this the other day. Good idea.

Of course, I forgot to do it.
 
grapehead said:
the physical act of writing out a list makes you more likely to learn/remember items on the list, through muscle memory.
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This

Why the fuck would you ever print out a set of drawings, when you have a pdf of them?

Because it's easier to read. I'm thankful I'm not leashed to my phone like a slave
 
Wes said:
Smart phone. I use the shit out of the calendar and reminders. I also take a picture of lists, calendars, and whatever I feel like I need to remember. It's worked well so far.
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I use the calendar for all the big stuff, but little stuff I don't. I have too much little stuff in my brain which is little to begin with.
 
CasterTroy said:
This

Why the fuck would you ever print out a set of drawings, when you have a pdf of them?

Because it's easier to read. I'm thankful I'm not leashed to my phone like a slave
Click to expand...

I'm thankful I don't have to print my to-do list on 30x42....
 
shawn said:
I'm thankful I don't have to print my to-do list on 30x42....
Click to expand...

People at work do that all the time.

Why people can't set their default printer to the 8.5x11 machine instead of the plotter is beyond me.
 
fawk me, if I wrote all the shit I have to do down I'd run out of paper, and would discourage me bc of such a long list... I try to remember the main stuff and my sweet woman ever so nicely reminds me of the stuff I can't recall needin done, while cursing at me for forgetting... smart phone I'm learning but paper is what I use for work setting weekly schedule for different houses, businesses! Just the norm for me I'm not the best with these smart phones, my gf says I can't even say phone right so I shouldn't even use one.
 
grapehead said:
I'd read an article once, that the physical act of writing out a list makes you more likely to learn/remember items on the list, through muscle memory.
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Absolutely true.
Although it isn't "muscle memory", that's bullshit ;-). It's about multiple recursive neural networks from ,including different modalities during encoding.

Related, when you realize you can't remember what you had meant to put on your list, or what was on it, or whatever - go back to the same physical place you were when you had the original thought. It will come back to you faster.
 
I have lists of work assignments/schedules/issues and then I have lists/checklists of those lists. Some of these lists then get submitted to the client on a weekly basis or circulated within the office. For the Willys Build, I just wrote everything down on a big piece of cardboard taped to the freezer door. Its not pretty but it works.
 
CasterTroy said:
I have a notebook for about every task. This one is for packing for wheeling trips. I have similar ones for individual projects, and sometimes have one for busy weekends, as well as trips to Home Depot (screw Lowes!)

View attachment 247371
Click to expand...

Being type A and OCD, I live by lists otherwise the anxiety and stress would kill me. BTW, love the coffee mug and the keychain! :sniper::sniper: :rockon::rockon:
 
i have to keep a separate note pad for every job im working at work. a pad at my house for things i need to get done and then use my computer calendar that is linked to my cell phone for any meeting or important stuff that i need to be reminded about.
 
I write specific notes on my phone and arrange them as Home Depot, Autozone, SiteOne, etc. I write customer needs also on phone and many times email them to me so I can remember and take care of it at home on my PC. Occasionally i have to assemble all notes and write them on a legal pad to be able to comprehend and arrange it all.
 
Get OneNote.

It's free. Install it on your computer, your ipad, your phone, whatever. Write things in it. Attach pdfs, xls, doc, jpgs, take photos with your phone and drop them on a page, etc. Access it from anywhere.
 
shawn said:
Get OneNote.

It's free. Install it on your computer, your ipad, your phone, whatever. Write things in it. Attach pdfs, xls, doc, jpgs, take photos with your phone and drop them on a page, etc. Access it from anywhere.
Click to expand...

I have an S7 for personal, and iphone and ipad for work, and ironically I picked up an Azuz Z8 pad yesterday for $1 from verizon (special they are running right now) when I went in to drop a spare line I'm not using. If this app works across the spectrum of devices I have, this may very well replace my desire for pen and pad. Downloading now on the tablet
 
Set it up with the same account on all your devices. Your stuff all gets mirrored to "teh clouds", so it replicates on all your devices whenever they have internet connections.

The thing I like about it is that I can get to it from anywhere, and it's versatile, so you can use it however makes the most sense to you. Here are a couple of good use cases:

1. Site visit to talk about some dumb plumbing nonsense. Bunch of guys from the City, the GC, the P sub, etc, standing around talking about how to address a problem. Pulled out my phone, made a new page under that project, took a couple of photos, made a couple of quick notes to jog my memory. Got back to the office, opened up the app on my laptop, copy/paste the photos into a field report, rewrite the notes into something more legible, added a couple of action items, printed to PDF and emailed it out in about 15 minutes.

2. Big project meeting. Keeping notes/meeting minutes on my laptop as we're working. Somebody writes a bunch of stuff up on the whiteboard. Pull out my phone, open up the same page where I'm taking notes, add a photo, take a picture of the whiteboard. By the time I sit back down, the photo is already loading on the laptop.

I keep notes about phone calls, meeting minutes, vital project information (contacts, code references, etc), to-do lists, anything and everything having to do with a project in it. I even have a guy at the office that has built the entire field report template into a OneNote page. He does his field report on the iPad as he goes, then prints to PDF for record and distribution when he's done.

If you have Office 365 at work, you probably have the enterprise edition through your subscription. Functionally, both the free version and the enterprise version work the same way, but the enterprise version will store all your data in the office Sharepoint. There's also a tablet/windows store version of the software. That is dumbed-down a bit when compared to the full desktop version.
 
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