Economies

I find pleasure in routine, and have lately been noticing the refinements that come with repetition. When you do things enough times, the process often reveals glitches that interrupt the smoothness and make for inefficiency and even failure. It's gratifying to notice how economical some movements get to be when you make them enough times. Skilled people have all kinds of methods for cutting out the wasted effort and doing more with less.

I get surprising bursts of insight, such as the idea that I could load my trailer first and then hook it to the bike, so the instability of the bike, resting on its kickstand, wouldn't be such a problem. I'm still wavering on that improvement, because the full trailer is heavy and harder to hook to the bike, so I'm lifting too much weight when I do that. But I try it each way for awhile until I get to the best solution, which will likely be hooking it up somewhere in the middle of the process. Unloading works much better without the bike, I find, because I can move the trailer around to unload in the proper sequence. I don't want to lift things twice or put them in temporary spots and move them again. At some point I get to the perfect sequence, and then I usually change the load and disrupt it, but that's just part of the challenge.

Putting the big trailer in the shed is a similar puzzle, as it is taller than the door, and I don't want to lift it either. I discovered that it is built to a human size, and if I get it placed just right, I can get inside the frame, rest it on my shoulder, and move it into the shed with little effort.

Almost all of my Market operations are like this. I have a certain way to do it that works best. I've noticed all of my neighbors on the blocks doing this too, to some degree. Seldom do the loading and unloading times involve empty-handed trips to the vehicle or dithering about what to do next. Partners develop their roles to suit their bodies and styles, one packing and the other pre-packing, or one carrying and the other arranging the load. I know way back when I did have a partner, we had our process down and stuck to it. This is often why we refuse "help" at the end of the day from friends or visitors. The organization for the next load-in is part of the process too. This is one thing the OCF needs to address with their idea of gatoring craftspeople in. Our loads are often highly organized so that the sequences can be followed, and it isn't simply a matter of enthusiastic young backs to help or lots of empty gator train units. What looks like a pile or a full truckload to you might be a masterpiece of organization to me.

I know this is why a lot of people at Market put up their booths before unloading their vehicle, which is technically against the rules. Making a pile and then putting the booth up over it is not always the best way to do it, particularly when it is raining. When you are working as hard as we do in that 12-hour period, you're always working against exhaustion. Just that hour early yesterday put me under last night, even though I had planned to get down to the Celebration for a little while. I suppose I could have taken less stuff, since I knew there would be more people but fewer sales, but it's really not efficient to repack my load on Friday, even though I did take out the tank tops and put in the longsleeves. Not that it mattered.

I sell downtown on Tuesdays too, but I don't take the same things. I cut the hats down to two bags fewer and take different fixtures and shirts. Some things go to both days, but most don't. When I pack and unload I make sure not to bury the things that need to be on top, and keep the things I can't forget in view. I sort the grid hangers separately so I'll have the right ones. I have to pay attention during the process, and keep on track, but I'm getting more efficient all the time. I'm also able to lift a bit more now than I could last year, so can use more tubs and don't have to pack as many tote bags. The tote bags have served well to break up the big tub loads into manageable weight packages. Of course when the rains start I have new adaptions to make.

There are lots of repetitive motion problems with my screenprinting work, and with many things I do. Have you noticed that you generally use a shovel with the same foot, and have similar body habits for most actions? My aging body is showing the effects of such actions, so I'm trying to switch sides for many of them. Not too easy, but I did manage to learn to use a mouse with my left hand, and stand differently at my press. It's not easy to change unconscious aspects of our lives, but it helps to try. I see a lot of bent people and I don't want to be one of them, not that I can really avoid it. I still have one shoulder lower from carrying my books in high school.

Unconscious mental and emotional habits are the same. I like the challenge of identifying them and pushing them a bit one way or another. It's never too late to start. I hope I push them toward improvement, and not just toward comfort. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

My sister is somewhat of an expert at lean manufacturing and writes a blog on it, called Lean Reflections . She was here a couple of years back and tried to look at my process and make some suggestions, which she wisely cut short due to my habitual defensiveness as the younger sister. I still think about what she suggested, though, and try to find ways to cut out the frustrating wastes of time and effort which I can't afford. I see the value of the objective view, but at the same time, there are so many nuanced behaviors that began as adaptive ones and have continued because they work on some level, even if they don't appear to be efficient. I did learn the value of continuing to look, though, at all the processes and all the steps. You have to go back and examine all the underlying assumptions that began the process. It uncovers resistance and negative thinking, because anytime you say "I can't" you have to ask "Why not?".

So the work is never finished and never all the way boring. We can improve and change, say *always* and *never* a bit less, and open to a little more adaptation. There's comfort in that too, and it keeps us from that sense of cranky loss when things seem to be slipping from our control. Because this is the t-shirt that seems to get the most notice in my booth these days: