Boxing Day*

Quite some time ago I started using the Five Box system to help organise my hobby.  I first heard about it on Dutch gamer Gunbird's site.  I found it very useful in keeping me working on projects while giving me some freedom to switch when motivation for any one  project dwindled.

Five boxes (random internet image)

Well, that was fine until I hit a huge slump in 2020.  For various reasons (more details here) I stopped hobbying pretty much completely.  Some hard thinking revealed what some of the problem was, and I took small steps to get back on track.

By 2021 I was pretty much back to painting and hobbying, but I made sure I only had one project on the go at once (with a bit of leeway, for instance, if something was waiting for the varnish to dry, I was fine starting the next project).  My 'Palette Cleansers' worked particularly well, and were an interesting diversion.

Now I'm thinking I'll give the five boxes another go, at least for a few months to see if it works for me again. I'll try and keep it sensible though.  One of the issues before was that I had boxes that stayed untouched for months (I've still got a box with Trident Realm stuff in it, barely touched since I started the Five Boxes).  I perhaps need some system where if a box goes untouched for too long it gest emptied?  I learned over the last couple of years that I do much better with hobby projects with a definite end to aim for, so its going to be small groups of minis, maybe units, rather than whole armies, as a box that never empties, even when worked on, is very demoralising. 

So you might be wondering what's in the five boxes?  Well, at the moment I'm not filling them all at once.  I do have a box of 'Oldhammer' dwarves to accompany the three I've already done, and I'm also starting a separate box with an opposing retinue of old Citadel minis. But I'm leaving the other boxes empty until I need them.

I'll review the system in a few months to see if it's worth continuing or if I need to stick with just one project at once. 

Dwarves undercoated and ready for painting - first box

Some opposition, classic GW Chaos minis - second box

*if you're unfamiliar with Boxing Day, it's St Steven's Day, the day following Christmas Day. Traditionally the day when servants were given the day off and presented with a box of food or gifts by their employers. The tradition may hark back to early Christian churches where boxes were set up at feast times to collect donations for the less fortunate.