Stuff I Learned

I spent Saturday helping Brother 1 with the roof of the shed he’s building. We spent part of the time securing a partial ridge board with rafters. We then had to measure and secure the ridge board to cover the rest of the roof.

The process involved adding guide rafters at the back end of the shed that were nailed to the wall plates. The top end of the rafters could rest against each other while we lifted the ridge board into position. This was done by pushing the board between where the rafters met and the weight of the rafters falling towards each other provided enough pressure hold the ridge board in place.

A little moving around to get the height right and then the ridge board could be nailed in place.

Stuff I Read

I started reading Cal Newport’s “Slow Productivity”. I haven’t finished it yet but it has been a quick read so far. What Newport means by slow productivity is:

A philosophy for organizing knowledge work efforts in a sustainable and meaningful manner, based on the following three principles:

1. Do fewer things.
2. Work at a natural pace.
3. Obsess over quality.

Newport, Cal. Slow Productivity (p. 8). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

I do like some of the suggestions about taking it easy on some days or certain times of the day or year. There are some concepts that I hadn’t heard of before. I have been in the head down, work hard, work extra hours to get the job mode for quite a while. I might consider adding some techniques he has mentioned.