Five Things I Do Every March (Before the Mud Dries)
March is a liar. It shows up wearing a warm coat, gets you excited, then drops six inches of snow on your truck at 2 a.m. But somewhere in the middle of March's nonsense there's a window — maybe a week, maybe just a weekend — when the ground softens, the light comes back, and your brain shifts modes. From survival to build.
I've learned to use that window. Here's what I do every March before the mud dries and the busy season buries me.
1. Pull Everything Out of the Truck
If you work outdoors or drive anything bigger than a sedan, your truck is probably a filing cabinet at this point. Receipts from November. A socket that fell behind the back seat. Someone's glove. Three protein bar wrappers and a prayer.
March is when I pull it all out, throw away the garbage, and rebuild the load-out intentionally. The Tactical MOLLE Seat Organizer gets reloaded — right tools in the right pockets, not whatever got jammed in there during a December job. I keep the Ti EDC Wrench on me year-round, but it goes back in the console where it belongs, not buried under a flap.
Clean truck. Clear head. That's the theory, and it mostly holds.
2. Audit the Shop
Wintertime shop work is reactive. You fix what's broken. Spring shop work should be proactive — you get the bench ready for what's coming.
I go through every bit driver, every hex key, every weird adapter I've accumulated since the last clean-up. Half I don't need. The other half I've been looking for. I reload the Bit Bar with whatever actually gets reached for — and only that. A cluttered bench is just a slow bench with extra steps and twice the frustration.
If anything needs sharpening, this is when it happens. If anything needs replacing, this is when I figure that out before I'm two hours into a job and missing a part.
3. Write the Project List
This is where most people stall. They carry a mental list. They think about it in the shower. They never write it down, and by June half of it is either forgotten or too late.
I write it down. Everything. Fence line that needs stretching. Deck boards that shifted over winter. The smoker that needs a new gasket before grilling season. Whatever needs doing before the heat locks in. I do this with an actual pen on actual paper — the Bolt Action Pen has been on my hip since last spring and it still writes like the first day. No mushy cap, no dried-out ballpoint surprise when you actually need it. Write the list. Make it real.
4. Light a Fire and Do the Triage
Once the list exists, I light a fire in the pit, drag out a cooler, and spend an hour deciding what gets done first versus what can wait. This is not procrastinating. This is project management for people who don't call it that.
The Polar Bear 20 Hard Cooler has been part of this ritual for three seasons. Ice lasts longer than it should. That matters in March when it's 40 degrees and raining and you still want a cold one while you think.
Fireside is also when I reach for the Bourbon Barrel Smoked Sea Salt. I put it on everything: eggs in the morning, steaks in the evening, smoked sausage when I'm too tired to do anything complicated. Tastes like a barrel and a campfire collaborated on something useful. Grab a chunk of the Raw Honeycomb for the board if you want something that'll make people think you planned a whole spread.
5. Restock the Snack Supply
This sounds basic. It is not. A person who runs out of fuel mid-project is making worse decisions than they would otherwise. The data is anecdotal but it's mine and I stand by it.
The Black Pepper-Garlic Beef Jerky is the default around here — good heat, good chew, not made from something you'd question. The Cowboy Butter is for when you want something that makes the afternoon feel a little more interesting. Stock the shop fridge. Stock the truck. Know where the next meal is coming from before the work starts.
March isn't spring yet. But it's close enough to start acting like it is. Get the list down. Get the truck sorted. Get the bench ready. The mud will dry. The days will get long. There's work to be done, and the people who prepared in March are the ones who actually get it done come June.
That's the whole play.
