I like my work environments to be free of clutter. Unorganized piles of stuff become a distraction to me. I feel uneasy and anxious when there's chaos around me. This is also applicable to the Downloads and Documents folder on my computer.

Recently, I was archiving some old notes in the Notes app that comes with Apple MacOS. If a note seemed stale and I would never add anything to it, I archived it as a PDF and then deleted it from Notes.

One particular note, "Creative Work" had the following bullet points:

Allow time for the process
Defer the decision
Tolerate the anxiety of the unresolved
Play!
Create a space to play separated from real life

Unfortunately, I never cited the source. Searching the interwebs for the author was fruitless. Regardless, its applicability to railroad modeling is obvious.

The point that resonates most with me is "Defer the decision". Some may call that "procrastination" and they may be correct. However, there have been numerous times I would have made a bad decision if not for delaying it a day or two (or even longer). When modeling a railroad, having to undo and redo something can be expensive and time consuming as well as potentially shutting down the creative process.

Stepping away from a critical problem for a day or so may allow the best solution to be discovered.