When I hit 10,000 hours building cabinets it really hit me different

I don't know why but the other day I was adding up all the time I've spent just on cabinet work since I started 22 years ago. I got to curious and figured out I'm at around 10,000 hours easy, maybe more if you count all the weekend side jobs. That number surprised me because I never thought of myself as some kind of expert, just a guy who showed up every day. My first set of oak cabinets back in 2003 looks like a toddler made them, all crooked doors and mismatched gaps. Now I can square up a face frame in my sleep and I don't even need a square half the time. It's weird how the numbers add up when you just keep at it. Anyone else ever stop and realize how many hours you've got logged in one specific thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

gonzalez.grant8d ago

Yeah I hit 10k hours on stupid mistakes alone.

sethmartinez8d ago

That part about the first set of oak cabinets really hit home, man. I pulled out some photos of my first framing job from 15 years ago and it’s brutal, crooked corners and staples everywhere. It’s humbling to see how far you come when you just keep showing up and messing up. I bet your brain can square things up faster than a tape measure now.