Which takes more thought: packing for a 4-day trip or a 4-week trip?

You could ask the same question about a client project: does the $40,000 project really consume 10 times more energy than the $4,000 project?

I’d dare to say that the 4-day trip packing takes more time and the smaller client or project takes at least as much time as the larger one.

There’s not much wiggle room on a 4-day trip. You’re probably not going to wash clothes and, depending on what you’re doing and who you’re seeing, you might not wear the same clothes twice. But for 4 weeks? In a sense, who cares if you forget something as you can buy a replacement while you’re away.

A real-life example: toothpaste. For the 4-day trip, I searched in our Travel Box for one of those tiny travel-size toothpaste tubes (with no luck). For the longer trip, I’d just bring my regular toothpaste and I know right where that is. Takes no time to think about it, plan it or find it.

The smaller (budget) project will probably take more back and forth as the client is budget conscious and could want more communication and input on what’s being done. The larger client is going to trust you to do your job because, hey, that’s what they’re paying the big bucks for, right?

I sense a larger post coming out of this. The smaller-budget project usually does take quite a bit more effort, cost, time and stress. Is it worth it? No.

To paint just a small part of a wall still means you have to get out the paint, maybe even do a coat of primer, go to the store to get new brushes, use them, wash them, clean up, etc. It’s not always the case that the s9-called small job is that much easier than the bigger one.