Hey Reader,

One of the biggest things I hear from people starting out in woodworking is that they just don't have enough time. Between work, family, and everything else, it’s hard to find a solid four or five hour block to really get into a project.

I used to fall into that trap too. I’d wait for the "perfect" Saturday morning, and if something came up, the whole project would sit untouched for another month.

Lately I’ve been focusing on beating what I call "shop creep" by using the 15 minute win.

Instead of waiting for a half day of shop time, I try to head out there for just 15 minutes in the evening or before dinner. You’d be surprised how much you can actually get done in that window. You can:

• Break down one sheet of plywood into manageable parts
• Sand a handful of small pieces so they’re ready for assembly
• Clear off your workbench and put a few things away
• Check your table saw calibration or sharpen a chisel

The goal isn't to finish the project in 15 minutes. The goal is to make sure that when you finally do get that big block of time on the weekend, you can hit the ground running instead of spending the first hour just digging through scraps or cleaning up.

If you can find three or four of these small windows during the week, you’ll find your projects actually start crossing the finish line much faster.

Now go build something awesome!

John - Biscuit Tree Woodworks

P.S. If you want a head start on your next project so you don't have to spend your shop time doing math and drawing diagrams, you can check out my downloadable plans here: