(DIY) Builder Burnout

[DAV!D]

How do you combat burnout? I am soooooooo sick of my van at the moment, I know it will pass but daaaaaaamn does it suck!! In an effort to not make more useless attempts at designing a layout/build sheet I just stopped altogether, now I feel over/underwhelmed all at once. FWP, most definitely, however, it is still not fun. Seriously considered selling and buying an already finished van but came to my senses that "NO" van will ever be "perfect" not sure how to start up again and winter is making it less and less appealing. Feeling like a deer in the headlights.

Sometimes you need to just step away take time off then focus on another project. When I did my initial build out on my Syncro I was able to stay focused and had no issues working on it everyday for a few months. I had a purpose because soon as the van was ready, I was hitting the road. Meaning getting the van ready = fun so it was easy to stay motivated.

Fast forward 1 and a half years. I've been on the road full time staying in Colorado almost the entire time. Was great and had a lot of fun. I didn't plan to stay gone so long and had left things unfinished on my van so minor problems started happening. I decided it was time to go home and finish my build but this time finishing my build means I'm now selling the van. That in it self is unmotivating because I like my Syncro..

I'm selling the van because I need more room as I've started a business while on the road and just need a full size van to be able to run my biz and travel full time. At first I was gung ho to come back and get on the rebuild. On the way home I had fuel pump issues.. broke down countless times due to this. No one could get me the fuel pump I needed and the only one I managed to find was defective.. It would get hot then would stop working.. (This made for a very long and stressful drive from CO to FL)

By the time I made it back, I was completely burnt out with my van. Almost soon as I made it home I had a wheel bearing go out which made my burn out even worse as the last thing I wanted to do was work on it.. I just spent the last 2 months not doing a damn thing to it just because I was burnt out.

In that time I was looking for a van to replace my current one and finally found it last week. After messing around with the new van a bit and thinking how I'll build it out, I'm suddenly ok again with working on my Syncro. It's kinda like having my new project took away from the stress/dread of finishing my Syncro to get it ready to sell. I guess due to now having my new van, I once again see the light at the end of the tunnel and can focus on my goal..

I'd suggest if you are burnt out, find something else to play with for a bit. That's what worked for me.

 

[Bikersmurf]

i don't think i get burnout as much as i get analysis paralysis.

I've had an unopened roll of reflectix, a adrian steel poly liner kit etc, for over a year!!

i am ready to start tackling the interior, but where to start? insulate the walls? cut the hole in the roof for the fan? start with the floors? what flooring? etc etc.

Start with what you've got, and projects you can quickly finish (so you can continue to enjoy your rig).

Sometimes writing things down on paper helps to stop the swirling of plans.

 

[Herbie]

I've been building my van for so long that I've hit the project fatigue wall MULTIPLE times.

I'm currently back in love with my van and planning the next project (which has been simmering for more than a year), but I definitely "get it" when it comes to being ready to throw in the towel. This is particularly true since mine is 100% home built (including the pop-top transplant) - I get depressed when I think about how many weekends I've spent building and working on it when I could have just written a (big) check and spent those weekends enjoying the rig instead. The solution is to STOP working on the rig for a while, and just get it out and enjoy it. After a couple of trips, I'm back to loving the rig, and spotting the small places where I can make improvements.

All the advice here has been good: Walk away from it, then use it, then when you're ready to work, break everything down to atomic chunks and tackle them only a few at a time, don't get buried in big projects that kill your motivation. Just like money or time, your motivation is a resource that needs to be shepherded and nurtured so you don't deplete it outright.

 

[DAV!D]

I do want to add.. building your van in phases or with short goals helps a lot. Take on small projects you can do and finish and build up to the entire build. When building my Syncro I planned it out in 3 phases. Each phase had lots of smaller steps.

1) Engine conversion/4wd transaxle
2) Camper conversion (including pop top install)

(took off on road trip with the van, planed 6 months but stayed gone for 1.5 years)

3) finish the 4wd swap (ie do the front end work)

I've now added a 4th step

4) rebuild the camper interior then polish up the van so it can be sold.

I will likely do step 4 before step 3 as I can still pretty easily sell the van with out it being 4wd but rebuilding/finishing the camper interior is a necessity

Anyway, build the van in steps works great for me because as a whole it was a big project but smaller steps can be completed still leaving the van usable most of the time.

 

[Jb1rd]

It is funny how things like this tend to get done then go on the auction block. I am excited about our new adventure and I also know that this won't be my last van or project. Hope everyone has a great NY and finds it in themselves to beat the burn and have fun with the process and as many have already mentioned/suggested, get out and use these beasts!!!

 

[tgreening]

It is funny how things like this tend to get done then go on the auction block. I am excited about our new adventure and I also know that this won't be my last van or project. Hope everyone has a great NY and finds it in themselves to beat the burn and have fun with the process and as many have already mentioned/suggested, get out and use these beasts!!!

My guess is it's because a lot of people get wrapped up in the "idea" of something, but once they get into it reality sets in. A project like this is time consuming, difficult, and expensive to say the least. When finished they are limited use vehicles for most people. In my case a 10,500 lb van on 37" tires doesn't make for the most practical daily driver which makes it a rather expensive lawn ornament. I'm lucky in that it doesn't matter to me because I have other vehicles to drive and some even get something resembling decent fuel mileage. Others may not be so fortunate so once the honeymoon phase is over practicality rears its ugly head and decisions have to be made.

 

[Jb1rd]

Fortunately for me mine is born out of moving out of the country in Jul/Aug of this year and the funds will be used to help our new endeavor. This forum and all of its users have been a huge inspiration and source of great ideas (sometimes to many ideas 😳 )

It is funny how things like this tend to get done then go on the auction block. I am excited about our new adventure and I also know that this won't be my last van or project. Hope everyone has a great NY and finds it in themselves to beat the burn and have fun with the process and as many have already mentioned/suggested, get out and use these beasts!!!