Reading bruce's reply has given me pause to consider my own experience, which has been similar. But while thinking about it while ripping out a cappuccino, I realized that for me there has been another significant factor that's worth mentioning - stress and anxiety. Thus could well be a topic for a thread on it's own.
When I started my RV-6a project I was goal driven. My goal was to learn to fly and have a great toy to have fun in. I have ample confidence in my ability to get things done that when I set my mind to them but I was worried about being able to afford the project, the fact that I'd never done anything quite like this before and being able to get it done in a timely manner along with everything else on my busy schedule. In a nutshell my commitment to building an airplane and learning to fly was a source of stress in my life, which was already stressful enough.
As time has passed I've learned a few things along the way and consequently done some reevaluation. It's become apparent that dedicating weekends to building hasn't worked out. Far too often other commitments get in the way. Besides, those long days can be tiring and stressful. I posted about it and someone suggested the five minute rule: every day just try to spend five minutes in the shop.
Learning to fly was also a source of stress. I was goal driven and had limited funds. Once my first chunk of money ran out I had to put my lessons on hold.
In essence both of these processes, which were running in parallel, were causing stress because I was attempting to achieve somewhat difficult tasks with limited time and resources. In both cases I found it necessary to back away from my goal orientation and focus more on the process.
Now that I'm trying to spend some time in the shop every day when possible, I'm finding that my airplane building time is not only less stressful, it's actually a source of relaxation and enjoyment. Because I'm not focusing on getting it done I can focus on what I'm doing, if that makes any sense. Much of the work is not intellectually challenging so I like to play podcasts while I work which keeps me entertained at one level while my hands are working at another. So now I can go into my shop for an hour or so and just relax while I fit some pieces, drill a bunch of holes or whatever.
Because my flying lessons are on hold to some extent the same thing applies. Air time is expensive but spending some free time just reading an instructional book is almost free and it can be enjoyable and interesting. Also, I think that I learn better when I review things over a period of time from more than one source as opposed to trying to push through a book and commit material to memory. I'm hoping that when I get back into the cockpit I'll have a better sense of what's really going on and will be better able to access the big picture rather than focusing on a series of details one after another. We shall see.
Anyhow, that's more or less where I'm at now on all of this. I can see why some people build one airplane after another. As hobbies go, airplane building isn't a bad one.
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