Modelling burnout.

[cypherman]

Hi all,

I was wondering if any one else was feeling the same as me. After 12 months of lock downs and restrictions and working, And a huge amount of modelling done I feel burnt out and cannot seem to get excited or even interested with the 3 projects I have sat on my bench at the moment. They are a H/D Co-Bo, H/D Co-Co and converting a Lima J50 chassis into a fully 6 coupled wheel arrangement. Just wondered if any one else felt the same way.

 

[Dagworth]

Yes, 100% with you. I cut a few strips of plastic for a project at the beginning of November. They are still sat on my desk untouched. 
 

Andi

[Paul H Vigor]

7 minutes ago, cypherman said:

Hi all,

I was wondering if any one else was feeling the same as me. After 12 months of lock downs and restrictions and working, And a huge amount of modelling done I feel burnt out and cannot seem to get excited or even interested with the 3 projects I have sat on my bench at the moment. They are a H/D Co-Bo, H/D Co-Co and converting a Lima J50 chassis into a fully 6 coupled wheel arrangement. Just wondered if any one else felt the same way.

 

I've found the social isolation the hardest part. Bubbles and Zoom are all very well, but I miss the real contact with others. I miss model railway shows and the opportunities to speak and laugh with like-minded people, face-to-face! I will NEVER take these social opportunities for granted again!

[SM42]

Still have things from lockdown 1 to finish. 

I get so far, get distracted and then it takes a while to get the oomph back.

 

I just do little bits when it gets like  that. 5 / 10 minute jobs. 

It moves things along without seeming like it's a job rather than a  hobby

 

Andy (currently in a slump)

[Winter123]

I have a lot of sympathy with this topic. I generally lose interest around autumn time through to Christmas for some reason. Maybe its because I associated the model railway as a kid around the summer holidays and then wish listing for Christmas. I also suffered a couple of bereavements last year which obviously affected all things railway related. However, as the old adage goes keeping busy helps so I have recently done a few small things like clean track, made some telegraph poles and ordered one or two items.

 

My advice is to not force anything. If you're not in the mood or have lost interest leave it for as long as you need. The layout & models will still be there in a few weeks or months time.

[Alister_G]

Yes absolutely. I think nearly all modellers experience a loss of interest periodically, and this last year of upheaval has just made that worse.

 

I haven't done any real modelling since December, and still can't really work up any enthusiasm.

 

Al.

[Dava]

Better to burnout than to rust, sang Neil Young, ‘Live Rust’. I am probably closer to rustout with stalled projects.

 

Time to build a turnout for my US shortline project with track parts I have available. Then get something running.

 

 

Dava

 

[chuffinghell]

I’ve spent the last too weeks reorganising my work space and tools etc as a distraction from actual modelling, Its basically avoidance behaviour

 

I’ve just started again but I’m only doing a bit here and a bit there, it’s not so much a lack of enthusiasm but a lack of being bothered to do anything.

 

From an enthusiasm point of view whilst at work I plan stuff I’m going to do when I get home but once I get home I can’t be ar$ed

 

[chuffinghell]

22 minutes ago, Winter123 said:

My advice is to not force anything. If you're not in the mood or have lost interest leave it for as long as you need. The layout & models will still be there in a few weeks or months time.

Sound advice

[MichaelE]

I haven't experienced that. I only run trains or work on the layout once a week. Sometimes two days if I have a bigger project happening.

 

I'm sort of a loner and I'm satisfied with spending time with my German Shepherd Dog, Lisl Von Schlaf. My mum did come by for a visit to see the trains run a few days ago. She hasn't visited in well over a year so that was a nice surprise.

[QWILPEN]

Like a few others on here I've spent more time reorganising my sheds, starting projects Lighting , DCC , Arduino, ras pi bits and pieces but little modelling . I probably have 15 or more projects on the go , with none of them getting done.

[Lemmy282]

I'm glad it is not only me that's struggling. I had great intentions of making all those loco kits I bought over the years when the first lockdown started. Looking back over the year I've made three, not even 5% of the total list of kits I have! The interest has gone, and enthusiasm is at an all time low. Maybe time to thin out the collection, at the present rate I'll need to live to 150!

Nigel L

[SM42]

2 minutes ago, Lemmy282 said:

I'm glad it is not only me that's struggling. I had great intentions of making all those loco kits I bought over the years when the first lockdown started. Looking back over the year I've made three, not even 5% of the total list of kits I have! The interest has gone, and enthusiasm is at an all time low. Maybe time to thin out the collection, at the present rate I'll need to live to 150!

Nigel L

 

 It will come back

 

I had a splurge last this time last year. Several kits moved forward and then hit an obstacle and they stare out at me, daring me to come up with a solution (ie. buy some bits) Things stalled for a month or four

 

Suddenly  other kits  surged forward as a friend asked me to make some wagons for him in October and now I have several in the paint stage that have languished for years.  (one of his kits still waits, part built, due to hitting a snag and I can't face the solving it yet. Good job he's not in a hurry )

 

Around Christmas that all zing  dropped to a trickle  due to a  family illness, putting my back out  and a recent bereavement and since I have managed short bursts here and there.

 

I actually managed 20 minutes today on and off.  Yesterday about 10 minutes

 

I am hopeful for tomorrow. Feeling a bit more energised again, strangely spurred on by this topic

 

Here at SM42 Towers Sunday is seen as a day of rest and so that's when hobbies come to the fore as the usual household  distractions are put on hold. Hence I see some weathering in the offing.

 

The rest of the week I am not so sure about. We'll see.

 

I don't push things if I am not in the mood but I find sometimes that sitting in the modelling room, doing some reading up, tidying or anything but actual modelling,  can sometimes spur some activity

 

Andy

[33C]

Recently i realised i had to many projects/kits/books etc, too many ideas and not enough lifespan so i'm flogging everything i'll NEVER do and concentrating on a core plan and models to suit, which has blown the cobwebs away, given me more space and lots of extra ££££ and as long as i do something every day to any of the maximum of 3 different projects i have on the go, all small, life is good. This came to me when i was remaking an Airfix ship (H.M.S. Suffolk) i was given. A very enjoyable 3 months of research, scratch-building and painting of something out of my usual sphere, 10 mins here, 20 mins there along with the "Cheapo" modelling and that's 4 models a year. I had over a 500 kits alone! Never gonna happen! Spare room is 75% empty now. Weight off and relax!! 

Edited March 7, 2021 by 33C
added detail

[Pete the Elaner]

I have felt burned out in the past, but not at the moment. I have several things on the go in the layout room which help me from feeling down.

I have spent months, possibly years when I've not even thought about working on a model or layout.

Don't worry about it though. Your layout will not walk away one its own & you will probably find your enthusiasm again..& if you don't, you will find another issue to replace it.

 

I still keep in touch with my club via video calls but it is not the same & I get a strong feeling that many have lost the enthusiasm that meeting each other generates.

 

I also play for a pub darts team. I never have been much good at the game so for me, it is all about spending a night with friends, which has been missing for almost a year. We occasionally say hello to each other on WhatsApp but that is all.

[The Johnster]

I have had my share and more in the past of burnouts, unfinished projects, half finished kits, and so on; the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  When I came back to it some 5 years ago after a divorce projected me into to a very lengthy period of a lifestyle far too unsettled and insecure to allow modelling, I was determined that I would discipline myself to avoid this, and have found the following general principles to be useful in this respect. 

 

Firstly, I designed and built a layout that simple but interesting to operate, realising that my main motivation is operating and that therefore it had to be operable in a fairly short amount of time in order to maintain my interest and 'momentum'.  My finances are limited and so is the space available, so this is in keeping with those limitations as well.  Turnouts are insulfrog for electrical simplicity and saving cash on point motors, and are hand operated; I have no problem with this. 

 

Secondly, in addition to keeping matters affordable and achievable, I have imposed a project discipline on myself, so that a new project is not started until the last one is complete.  There are clear advantages to this; one avoids the plethora of half finished useless stuff, and it concentrates one's attention on the current project.  I do not currently have a current project, having had several consecutive coach building projects over the last 18 months and more, so I am taking a break from it for now; I was approaching burnout and am benefitting from concentrating on operating my railway for now,  Moreover, having seriously injured the wallet (remember, my income is low and limited) with no less than two new locos in the last 3 months, it needs a period of convalescence, so no new kits for a while!

 

I suffer with clinical depression, and it is important from this perspective to arrange matters so that one can reward oneself for achievement rather than chastise oneself for failure.  Keeping tasks bite size and acheiveable is good way of doing this; the project might, for example, be the building of a Comet coach kit, which even with practice I find a little daunting, but the tasks are broken down into achieveable projectettes; 'I'll drill out the holes for the door handles today', easy peasy, when you've done it, award yourself a beer and feel good about it. Do the door handles tomorrow as another projectette, and so on.  If I think of the amount of work to be done with the whole kit, including painting and numbering, I get a little overwhelmed, and failure becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. 

 

Thing to remember is not to beat yourself up if you are not in the mood, or have lost your mojo.  Take a break from it until your mojo finds you; it will, trust me.  But while you aren't beating yourself up, remember to praise and reward yourself for the bits you have done, or for the discipline of not doing anything until you are in the correct frame of mind.  It's a hobby, and nobody can enjoy their hobby if they are suffering from burnout, so take it methodically and bit by bit. 

 

I get a bit intense sometimes while the projects are ongoing, and they sort of take over my entire existence.  There are good and bad sides to this, as being absorbed in them distracts me from my other 'issues', but if I'm not careful can lead to me not being sufficiently aware of other aspects of my life.  It's a balance.  If you are going for a cuppa or beer, leave the layout room and sit in the lounge or dining room, where you cannot see the thing you are working on; paradoxically, I find this clears your thinking processes for the next bit.  Have a little walk around, even if it's only around the room, and loosen up shoulders, backs, and necks that got stiff while you were so absorbed in some fine detail you didn't notice your posture.

 

Keep it achieveable, and keep achieving it!

[rab]

A very timely topic as far as I'm concerned.

 

I've been making stuff for a layout while converting the garage to a railway room.

Having reached the stage of putting the bits together, I'm struggling.

I'm beginning to realise I'm not as dexterous as I thought I was.

 

I designed the layout on CAD, and it all looked great,

but actually putting the bits together is not so easy.

I want to try to get it right first time to avoid problems later on.

 

Having spent so long planning, and collecting locos etc. I want to have something running, but there's quite a bit to do to get to that stage.

I started setting targets, but then I found I was beating myself up when I missed a target.

 

So now the pressure's off, I'm just plodding on as and when I feel like it, and trains will be running one day, or as they say in Cornwall 'dreckly'.*

 

* dreckly: manyana without the urgency

 

 

[cypherman]

Hi all,

Well I have bit the bullet this morning. I put some of the transfers on my Co-Co and Co-Bo. Only a little thing but it is a start again.

[Kris]

I think we all have ups and downs when doing anything. I have found they last few weeks hard to get motivated to create anything for either my main layout or for my children's one. What I have found however is a little card building modelling has helped. We shall see what happens and how things develop. 

[Crisis Rail]

It's very much cyclic - the mojo does return I find after inspiration at a decent exhibition or a visit to the real deal.

Maybe try a few sub assemblies and definitely have a clear out and workbench rearrange to refocus.

Sourcing is an issue after permanently losing a long Lancashire based traditional model shop less than 4 miles away.

Coupled with the lack of exhibitions for a "good root" of bits.

 

And yes -  Winters are long enough without this 'Rona  - we are all well overdue to get out and about in a bit of sun now.

[SM42]

3 hours ago, cypherman said:

Hi all,

Well I have bit the bullet this morning. I put some of the transfers on my Co-Co and Co-Bo. Only a little thing but it is a start again.

 

This is the key I think 

 

Only a little if the mood takes or the moment seems right. If the mood doesn't then no point forcing it or worrying about not doing it. 

 

 

Andy