Maker's Panic - an heuristic analysis
Subjects exhibit signs of irrational movement between projects, each of which they see as singularly important.
In many cases the time-poor maker will seize upon any idea which he or she will believe will yield a completed product before the end of a pre-determined period. The reality, of course, is that they are delusional and each task they undertake will drive them deeper into the panic.
They will eventually succumb to the realisation that all of their many efforts will be cut short, either that or they just fall asleep.
Case study - Subject L1
20:00 Subject shows classic "Large Project" leanings as he attempts to construct a PWM circuit without breadboarding.
20:30 Although the PWM project contains large amounts of detail beyond the subjects scope of comprehension, he ploughs on with only the smallest signs of doubt in his mental periphery.
21:15 The PWM project is abandonned.
21:16 Subject consumes a glass of wine.
21:20 Subject takes up mold making - a project he believes may yield some form of result because it has been underway for a number of days already.
21:45 Fairly quick realisation dawns that the cure times for RTV silicone are such that this will also be a dead-end.
21:46 Subject consumes a glass of wine.
22:00 Subject embarks on "Knight on horseback made from electrical components" project.
22:45 After looking objectively at the scale of this project the subject is clearly becoming fatigued and frustrated. The amount of time needed here is way beyond what is available before the need for sleep will take over. The panic is clearly beginning to form in the subjects mind and his thoughts are becoming erratic.
22:55 A last tired attempt to progress marks the end of the KOHMFEC project for the time being.
23:00 Subject consumes a glass of wine.
23:13 Subject now looks for a shorter duration project and decides that small paintings made on scraps of wood will suit the available time-frame.
23:45 The wood is collected and some pieces are painted, but the need for the paint to be sanded leads to the now exhausted subject finding that paint which has not dried merely paints the sandpaper leaving bare patches of wood on the "canvas".
23:55 Full blown Maker's Panic. Sweating and occasional swearing. Despondency begins to set in.
23:57 Subject consumes a glass of wine.
00:05 Subject consults lists and other forms of "inspiration", but the panic has fogged his judgement and he flits from one possibility to another at a vastly accelerated rate.
00:25 Subject is forced to confront the only possible avenue available at this late stage of the panic and picks up a sketchbook and pencil.
00:35 After drawing faint, random circles on various pages of the sketchbook an image starts to take shape.
00:50 Interestingly the subject's frustrations at being unable to finish any of the tasks he has set himself because of the approaching need for sleep seem to have manifested themselves in the project that he finally manages to complete. It is a drawing:
00:51 Subject is asleep
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