What Redesigning my Daughter’s Room Taught me About Poor Planning

A few weeks ago my husband and I decided to embark on an exciting project; to design and renovate our 4-year old daughter’s bedroom. Although these kinds of ventures can be thrilling for most, it can truly cause some serious headaches when you do not have the right preparation to tackle them appropriately. Also, having a hammer in one hand and a crowbar in the other is definitely not a good combination for frustration to enter the scene – so proper planning is a must! As we picked up momentum and dove right into this project, I soon started to realize some things that we either missed or miscalculated, and how a lot of these fundamental steps would be applied to our everyday work tasks.

I’ve got everything! Except for these 10 other things…

I had been looking forward to this for the past 3 months, and I was beyond excited. In my head, I knew everything I needed to do; I was ready to get all of our supplies, and ready to get started. Once we got back home from the store, we got right to work… we then realized we had the wrong sanding paper, and not nearly enough paint. After the second trip to Home Depot, we realized we got the wrong kind of paint. Then after the third trip, we realized we had the wrong kind of nails. In other words, after four trips to the store, my husband wanted to run away to Mexico, and I wanted to burn down the room – she can just sleep with us! :). It was mindboggling how a project that I couldn’t wait to start was so quickly turning into a nightmare. 😦 So here was my mistake number one: Unpreparedness.

More often than not we make the same mistake at work time and time again. Many times when we are presented with a task, we dive into it without really looking at what is required. We then find out half way through the project that we missed something along the way, usually causing aggravation to enter into the mix. To avoid this undesirable frustration, it might be a good idea to make a check-list of everything you will need to complete your task or project, before you start it. I know that check-lists are somewhat old-school and can be viewed as unnecessary (especially for minimal tasks), but the time that it will take to write out a list is well worth it compared to the vexation you may suffer later, after figuring out you’ve missed something. Not only does making a list help you become more prepared, but writing things down will also help you remember things a lot better (E.g. you can remember the proper supplies for decorating your kids’ room), which can certainly be advantageous in any task.

Um, any chance we could push out that deadline?

When I started to “plan” the process of it all, I was certain that it would take us just about a full day to complete her room – after all, I had already painted three of the four walls the week before, and that’s the time-consuming part, right? Well, here was my mistake number two: Underestimating. As it turns out, not only did I dismiss the amount of work that still needed to be done, I also did not take into consideration the time that it would take us to complete it all. I mean, we are talking about removing moldings, sanding and painting them, painting doors, drawers, etc., yet all of that slipped my mind. All I could think of was my dreamy end result, and my plans of relaxing the rest of the weekend. Of course, I was in for a rude awakening, and our entire weekend was consumed by this project – which is still not entirely finished 😦 (although my husband thought my misguidance was quite comical; I’d say half of our time was spent by him laughing at my one-day-project idea).

Whenever we are faced with a lengthy project it is always important to have a realistic outlook on the time that this task will actually take. Not taking the time to plan accordingly could cause you to underestimate what needs to be done, which in turn can cause you to miss a deadline (or just barely make it). In addition to making a list of what you will need, it may also be a good idea to do your best to calculate how much time each item on that list will require. Do you need to write an article? Think about the amount of research you need to do. Or maybe you have a spread sheet to create – think about how long it might take you to edit and enter information properly; making extra time for the small tedious jobs will be beneficial as well. Once you do this, you will have a much better chance at completing your work on time, and you won’t be pulling your hair out the day before it’s due.

I could’ve sworn I had my notes in here…

Last but not least, being organized is an absolute essential (this is, most definitely, my favorite tip). My next mistake during my daughter’s awesome room makeover was – you guessed it: Disorganization. I cannot stress enough how irksome it was to be in the middle of painting/sanding/nailing and not being able to find the paint brush/sand paper/hammer. Or, when this wasn’t the case, I would start doing something that my husband had already started to do – double the work for nothing. Or, my favorite: we nailed the door frames back onto the wall, only to have to take them down again because we put them in the wrong order (they didn’t fit properly). Meh. 😦

Needless to say, you will be much better off making sure that you are organized with all of your work. Designating a place for everything and keeping it all in order will avoid lots of headaches and will guarantee a much smoother work flow. Keeping your notes organized and in an assigned location is a good way to start your organization process. Another good idea is to keep your desk as organized and decluttered as possible, as this will naturally make you feel more calm and focused; having too much clutter around you will interfere with your brain’s ability to process information. In addition, being organized in your work will not only increase your ability to focus, but it will also dramatically reduce the time you spend working, which means that you’ll have a much better chance at finishing your work on time (or early) and then be ready to just head on home! 🙂

For more on organization, read “7 Health Benefits of Getting Organized”

It feels good to be done.

Whether it is being unprepared, unorganized, or maybe just simply procrastinating, lack of planning can certainly put a damper on our to-do list. Although there are many other ways to prepare for any task you may have, these are some good steps to keep in mind. Just remember, it will always be better to spend a little more time on preparation in the beginning than a lot of time stressing trying to rush it all in the end.