This is one I learnt from Simone Giertz, or rather it's the name she has given to the concept. We'll see how broadly this applies but as I'm primarily coming at this from the perspective of a maker. Perhaps it'll be relevant more broadly - let's find out together.

In simple terms the Make-Your-Own Gnome is that little voice in your head that says "How much?! Pah, I could make that myself - easy!"

Depending on what it is and how your skills are this may vary between being completely true or a wild over-estimation of your abilities. There is a certain level of irony involved in this though as it's been my experience that the better someone is at their field of choice the less it's worth their time making their own.

Let's explore that a bit as it feels a little bit compressed there.

I'm going to use the example of some wargaming terrain components that I was absolutely in love with as a child. In this era cardboard wargaming terrain was common, at least in terms of what was for sale. The more industrial pieces would use little plastic plates to hold the structure together. They were called "bulkheads" and could be bought separately but weren't cheap. I owned some but always wanted more, particularly as they could be repurposed for other projects.

Years passed and eventually I found myself all grown up and easily capable of making illicit copies of such simple models. However to do so would mean needing to take the time to make moulds, all the materials involved in that, and perhaps more precious, my time to do it. At this stage, yes, I could make my own with relative ease - however doing so would take time away from other projects and probably cost me more in materials than just buying some of the things directly.

Essentially it would be false economy and that's the crux of this. Not so much about money, although that is a factor, but that making your own has a cost. It's essentially opportunity cost, if you're aware of the concept from economics. Doing this means you're not doing something else, essentially.

Oh and to finish the little anecdote - by the time I was skilled enough to easily make my own I just wasn't so enamoured with those plastic bulkheads anymore. I could design and cast my own original pieces and find it much more creatively fulfilling to do so. If anything taking the time to make those simple copies would be time spent putting in legwork without much to show for it.

I suspect this applies more broadly in life. I've certainly heard similar sentiments expressed about making pierogies - delicious but so involved, shop bought won't be as good but the trade-off is worth it.

To a certain extent I also think this is a personal pride and ego thing. Who amongst us hasn't had a parent scoff at something we've wanted for being of shoddy quality - and then carried those sentiments into adult life?

I could make it myself! It'd be far better too!

Assuming that's true - should you?

Sometimes the answer is a resounding "YES!" but learning when it's the little part of you that is the Make-Your-Own Gnome talking is important. Maybe you could do it, to prove a point, but much of the time there is no audience beyond yourself for that point. Of course sometimes we do need to prove things to ourselves, let's not gloss over that, but assuming that's not the case then why do you need to do it?

Consider that, essentially, rather than letting your initial reaction get the best of you, particularly if it's ghosts of the past causing those feelings. For those of us who are older - yeah, that'll show that person from the distant past who probably died ten years ago!

An important takeaway from this is that people who are experts in their field usually learn where they can take shortcuts. Sure, they might show the novice how to do the fundamentals, but mostly they try to find ways to avoid having to do the same grunt work over and over again. Learning when to be thorough and when to be slapdash makes a significant difference in the real world.

Whether it's puff pastry or a programming framework part of becoming proficient in a given field involves finding ways to put skills to use rather than spending time on grunt work.

That said I do not want this chapter to be interpreted as "just buy it" as that's most definitely not the message. There will be many occasions where buying something is a bad call, even if it might be easier. The key is letting yourself consider both alternatives rather than shutting down the "easy" option instinctually. It could well be that the convenience isn't enough of a justification - or that the resource you can spare is time, not money, in which case making your own is usually the right call.

I say "usually" because there are some edge cases on that which I've run up against and they relate to a cost that we've not mentioned so far - the emotional cost.

Let's say you're excited to work on a project and let the Gnome get the best of you - by the time you've done making your own it's quite likely that you've burnt some of your enthusiasm for the project. Probably not all (although there's certainly some things that will consume all of it!) but a significant amount.

By choosing to make your own you'll have put yourself in a position where getting the rest of the project done is tougher than it needed to be. This dovetails with the concept of project momentum - they're not quite the same thing but closely related.

A planned project has yet to begin but one underway needs enough momentum to reach its conclusion in a timely manner. If the initial steps are drudgery it's increasingly likely that the project will get bogged down, decisions will be harder to make, and in a worst case scenario any of the resources acquired for the project go to waste. As in buying things for a project and then canning the project. Making your own might have been cheaper but if it costs you the project is it a good use of your time?

It's worth mentioning that it's not just buying resources I'm meaning here, it's just easier to not caveat everything. It could well be that you've reached out to people for help, called in favours, or cancelled other things for this project.

However, sometimes making your own is the way to go. Sometimes the costs and inconveniences involved with acquiring the item (such as a delay while it is delivered) are actually hindrances. Better to be getting on with it rather than waiting two days for delivery, for example.

This happened to me with a project making miniature jerry cans (those metal fuel canisters). I'd scratchbuilt one and was happy with it. I needed at least two though - they were going to be cast in resin as part of a kit. It had taken an hour or two, I'm not sure how long - once I got stuck in I was down for the duration as it were.

My options were to stop, make a mould, and then make a copy of the one I was happy with...

...or sit there for another hour or two hand-making another one.

Making the mould would mean stopping what I was working on, packing it away, spending time making a sprue, a mould box, mixing chemicals, vacuuming out the bubbles, then putting the mould in my pressure chamber. After it had spent a few hours curing, possibly overnight, I could cut it open, remove the jerry cans, and then go through the resin pouring process (probably another hour).

I decided to suck it up and just hand make another one, even if it was rather dull to do so. Remarkably the second one was pretty consistent and I eventually broke them out into their own set of just jerry cans. They even went on to form part of another set of vehicle accessories some years later!

Hopefully that's both sides argued with reasonable coherence and we can move on to the conclusion. You can let the Make-Your-Own Gnome argue their case but don't let them win out of stubbornness, or false economy. When in doubt take the time to consider what the costs associated with making your own are likely to be, and what you'd be giving up to spend time making your own.