Similar to physical workouts, it is helpful to do some warm-up exercises for woodworking – especially if one has not been in the shop for awhile.  I would never start a hand-cut dovetail without first doing some practice sawing to a straight line and even making a few practice dovetails before starting the real work.  For me, cutting boards are a general warm-up to doing any kind of shop work after an extended absence.  Such a simple project involves design, lumber selection, milling & dimensioning, panel glue-ups, and finishing.