Simply Thrifty has a great list of 100 things you can make yourself. While some of them are a bit obvious (spaghetti sauce, applesauce and most of the other food items), there are some that you might be less likely to think of as a DIY project, like a camera or solar power generator.

I’ll add one that’s not on the list: a gypsy (or romani) vardo! I think this is going to be my next big project. It would make such an awesome writing studio!

Via Get Rich Slowly.

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I came across a very interesting essay the other day written in 1949 by Robert Benchley entitled How to Get Things Done. The essay basically focuses on the art of structured procrastination.

The breakdown of this technique is pretty simple.

1. Make a list on Monday morning of the things you need to get done during the week. Put the most important things at the bottom of the list. Put the least important on top.

2. Start at the top of your list. If the first thing on your list is to write some cornerstone content for your blog (or Mr. Benchley’s case, to write a newspaper article) sit down at your computer and start.

3. Here’s the brilliant part. As you’re sitting there staring at your blank screen, you’ll inevitably get distracted by something lower down on your list (like responding to all those emails in your inbox), and complete that task instead.

4. When you’ve finished the distraction, then you need to go back to writing your cornerstone content. Again, you’ll probably end up distracted and go on to something else and finish that instead.

I’m guessing at this point you’ve probably gotten the point of the essay. When you finish everything but the cornerstone content, you just need to add something above that on your list, and that will get done too.

The original essay is a really interesting read!

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Burnout effects everyone. I get close to burnout at least once a year (if not more often), and it can be difficult to prevent it from happening. But, I’ve got some strategies to share that tend to pull me out of the cycle pretty effectively.

Take a break.
Depending on how severe your burnout is getting, taking an afternoon or a day off can do wonders. The main catch is that you can’t do ANY work during that time off. That means put your laptop away, turn your phone off (or unplug it), and basically forget that you even have a job/business/etc.

Take a vacation.
This is a bit different than a day off, as what I’m talking about requires actually leaving your house or other place of business for at least a couple days.

Work in bursts.
Working in bursts helps to free up large portions of your day for things other than work. Make a to-do list at the beginning of your day and then work in short bursts with breaks in between until everything on your to-do list is done. This works especially well if you’re self-employed or telecommute. But even if you work in an office for someone else, you can adapt this to your work schedule (the key is to generally look like you’re busy…or you can always pretend to be on a conference call or in deep thought).

Bonus: When all else fails, do a forced burnout: just load up on coffee (iced mint mocha latte’s are my favorite), and work until you absolutely can’t work anymore, and then you’ll crash for a couple of days and be completely non-functional, but you’ll feel surprisingly better afterward.

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