Anyone else ever struggle with staying focused/motivated

Chris_Hamilton

Chris_Hamilton

Trying to be the best me, I can be
Hi guys I'm new here, I've lurked off and on over the years though. One of the best forums around IMO. Maybe some of you could give me a little advice or let me know I'm not the only one that struggles with this. I'm 42 and my day job is at a small but very busy collision repair shop. I take a vehicle from start to finish, meaning from teardown, frame work, bodywork etc to paint. I've been doing collision repair/paint/ metal work for 20+ years now and it has pretty much sucked away my soul.(Doing Collision repair/ Insurance work) I have a small shop at home where I have been doing mainly old stuff and hope to grow my side business so I can quit my day job fairly soon. I have a decent amount of work and even a waiting list. I do good work and give my all both in my day job and on the side.
Here's my issue, after 10 or so hours at my day job, my motivation to go out into my home shop and work is really low lately. Maybe I'm just getting older but it is hard to get myself out there for another 4-6 hours at night and 8-12 each day on the weekends. Health wise I feel pretty good and no I'm not depressed, just seem to lack the drive I once had. Anyone else go through this? If so any advice for me?

Thanks,
Chris
 
I think what you are experiencing is normal. I opened up a small shop 23 years ago and quickly decided I could have a career or a hobby but could not do it for a living 8 ours a day and for fun at night. I chose not to give up my hobby.

There are guys that can do that but a lot uf us who can't. There is a tremendous amount of mental stress that goes with running a business and meeting a customer's expectations.

Good luck on your business.

John
 
Chris, the older I get the harder it gets. Watch my grandson all day and come shop time I don't want to ever go out there anymore. The cold weather doesn't help either.... Every time I ask a Dr. why I'm getting this way they chalk it up to age.
 
It sounds completely normal to me too. Even after working in a cozy lab/office job all day, sometimes I come home and still lack the motivation to work on my car, and I'm even a young guy. My friends who are mechanics talk quite often about how, after working all day on other people's cars, they have no desire to come home and work on their own cars.
 
Same here I'm 42 and in the morning I'll say to myself that I can't wait to get out in the shop. By the evening time especially in the cold weather I'm done. After my first day off from my day job I can log some hours out there. I don't know how some guys can do it. I think the weather has alot to do with it for me. I work outside during the day.
 
Age.....I'll be 48 in a few weeks, I can't work all night like I did when I was younger. There were many mornings years ago where I walked out of the shop with the sun rising and the birds chirping-I can't do that anymore.
 
Lately yes. I'm working on a project at home that I'm just not into but today I final primed it so I'm starting to get a little more motivated.
 
Yup, right there with ya man. 42, just me working, start working around 9-10am usually quit around 3-4am, have a waiting list for probably the next 3-5 years. Trust me, there are certain times I absolutely loath going out to the shop especially on cold days, but FORCE myself to get out there and do something...oh and 5 hour energys help too lol. There have been many, many, times I tell myself..."maybe I shoulda taken up gardening". So, no you're not alone.
 
A person really has to enjoy this work to do it nonstop. Someone doing this part time on a 1000hr restoration will spend a whole year on the same car if he can work 20 productive hours a week.
 
When I left my normal 9-5 job a few years back to paint full time I had to work every night just to keep up with my standard of living. So basically I would go into work at 7am be home around 5:30, eat dinner, say hi to my kids and back in the garage working until midnight. Every day. Ya that burnt me out. Did it for 2 years until I had enough and went back to programming. Now that I'm back to making my previous living its sometimes hard to get motivated but I have some cool projects coming up that are starting to get me going again. Once I get past this current disaster!
 
I'm 43 and have noticed a large change of motivation past few years. Went on my own as a contractor 8 years ago & like most everyone here burnt it on both ends. I have found for me some good music & a bike ride or float in the kayak to zone out helps erase the stress. Also priorities have changed, if I get to work on truck great if not that's OK too. My sanity thanks me lol. I chalk it up to age.
 
I have ran my own mobile tool business for over 20 yrs and after a long day had no desire to do anything. My family and house work was neglected. At 50 yrs old I decided to go to work for someone else. I now have time for my family and life and actually feel like going out to the shop and working on my projects. I still run my business " part time" and discovered that I once again enjoy it. Burn out is a real thing and sometimes you just need to step back and take a look at what's important to you. You have to have balance in your life to make everything work
 
Let me get my violin and start playing some sad music. LOL Y'all are youngsters I'll hit the big 60 in May if I live that long.
I understand completely not wanting to go out in the cold. Usually I'll go out and feed the critters early and if its too cold I go back in the house, drink coffee and surf the net until 10 or so. By then the sun is up and things start thawing out.
The weather here is way different than back east or up north. Gets into the 20s at night and low 70s during the day.
 
Didn't mean to offend anyone by my last comment. I realize some of you have been sanding on cars everyday of your lives for decades and that would get old for anyone.
 
Lol, i dont think you offended anyone.

Last weekend I final primed a 54 truck I've bneen working on and I had to go back and start polishing out some parts that I painted last month. I was so burnt out on this damn truck that Im excited to be wet sanding and polishing these other parts.
 
I just came across this thread and dam.... At least I'm not alone, my body is sore too from all the years of block sanding in a production enviroment beating the insurance times. At least when I do it at home I am on my time and can give it the time it needs to fully cure while working on another area.
 
Lol, misery loves company?

I'm 45, I'm entering my second year working full time for myself in my very cool shop built on my property, which is a rural property that we live on. I walk to work from the house.

The shop is awesome, I mean really it's beautiful, everything I could have ever dreamed of when I was on the other side of this dream.

But, I have trouble too.

It really is my number one success obstacle. It does help a bunch that the customers are happy people, full of enthusiasm etc.

I have been thinking perhaps I need to bait myself along with a little hot rod project of my own, lol.

Best of luck to you all.
 
Ugh, motivation. Its so easy to loose it and sometimes such a struggle to get it going again. Most of my life I have been very motivated but every now and again, I find myself laying face down in the dirt. I think its something we all go thru. Most of us get back up. I think if we look for strength in all the good things in our lives we have been blessed with, getting motivated, or re motivated is easier.
 
I find getting motivated is better when you set some goals. Finish a hinge project, start building up the frame to support an area, move on to a new piece of the project. Worst thing is to block filler, just to add more filler and block it again the next day.

Way back when I was in high school, I was trying to get into a tool and die internship, they stopped the program when I got to senior year. They instead sent a school rep to my house and he found out I liked working on cars more than I liked tool and die and since his school offered both, he pushed for the automotive. He walked out puzzled that I would not rather do what I liked for a job, but my thought was, I wont like doing it as a hobby if I do it as my job. Never could afford the tool and die thing, and honestly, it probably worked out since that was when the industry was going away from hard tooling to NC machining.

I think I have an advantage since my day job of painting, powder coating and anodizing is usually followed up with 4 hours working on a project car, so there is no delay, no, stop and eat, then not want to get up again. Seems it works best if you leave work and go straight to the garage.
 
Didn't expect to see anyone saying they didn't have a problem trying to work extra while getting older. Other work after work does have to be some different, at least under different conditions to stand it. Doing something you can have pride in is sometimes some of the only available motivation.

as you get older, there is something to be said for trying to eat a little better & do at least a small amount of actual exercise even if its just a few stretching excercises. But damn if that ain't harder than real work itself.
 
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