A JACK OF ALL TRADES AND MASTER OF NONE

During a conversation at work recently, it was decided it was great to have a handyman in the house. Since neither my mother nor I had the luxury of such a person, it was vital to learn many household skills beyond laundry, dishes and cooking. I don't do anything electrical but can fix things and figure out what needs to be fixed. Skills such as sewing-yes unlike modern people- I can sew on a button and hem pants so do not need to take anything to a sewing centre and minus $15.00 later have a finished product. So what is better to be such an expert of one area but not know much about other things or the proverbial jack of all trades. Painting a room, making the curtains, cleaning it and framing a photo to decorate brings the many skills scenario.  Call me Jack or maybe the female version is Jane of all trades. It is more fun to putter with many areas. The boredom factor of life lets a project sit while another one is progressing then returning to finish the other one. Active projects such as digging a section of the garden or quieter ones like photographing something of interest or knitting while watching TV or a movie allow many little things to get done at the chosen pace of the moment. Workplaces require job descriptions and what is in your scope of practice. At home there is no scope of practice. Some couples may keep gender roles but many men and women have started to gravitate to what interests them. Some cultures still have female and male jobs!! If it's broken and can be fixed give it a try. We have become a throw away society. Some things are good for the recycling bin or a charity box. However, many little home projects can be managed by the people living there. Yes I needed to hire a roofer for a new roof but painting a room or cleaning the grout in the tiles can be done cheaper by knowing how to do it. There is a sense of accomplishment to say I did something. Besides have you ever hired someone and found the mess made was not worth the cost of that person. Or little boo boos were made and have irritated the hell out of you ever since? If I made the mistakes I can live with them since my labour did not cost me any money!! Expert or Jack! Which are you??

DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!

I learnt to sew from my mother. She would sew an item, check it then take her razor blade and rip out the seam. So I would use the trial and error method until I started to think about it and decided if I measured the item first then sew perhaps I would only need to sew it once! Voila! It worked. And I bought a seam ripper- a very cheap sewing tool just in case I did need to remove some stitches or hem some pants or a skirt. By taking our time with items in our lives and planning, thinking, measuring it saves lots of aggravation in the long run! New furniture, for example, may not fit the rooms you have in your home! So map out the room before buying! Where to hang a picture on a wall? Measure first! In my first homes there would be many holes behind each picture I hung- now one! When I knit a sweater for example, I knit both sleeves at the same time thus saving time of measuring and checking tension etc. Every knitter has had the experience of one sleeve being slightly longer than the other. Counting stitches and marking them down on a piece of paper is a simple method. Writing in our lives!  It has become so easy for High School and University students with spell  and grammar check. However, it is still a good idea to have a dictionary and thesaurus handy to know the meaning of words. A little concise book of English grammar can be another tool for doing it right! Is it affect or effect? What is the noun and what is the verb? What is an adjective and an adverb? Take an inventory of how long it takes to complete any task. Then dissect the steps involved and you may discover there are ways to eliminate some of those steps. Did you take three steps forward and one step backwards? Perhaps! Each new task takes time to learn how to do it but over time it becomes a skill. So the trial and error method may get you started until you determine your own -- I will do it right the first time! Have you had tasks in your life that are second nature now? Do you find ways to reduce the number of steps it takes to complete a task?