I cannot think of a time in my life when I have completed a property renovation and said:
“Well, that didn’t take as long as I thought it would”.
Never.
And I cannot believe I am saying it now. But I am.
This project was run differently to my norm, so I thought I’d share with you what I did to achieve ahead of schedule success! And just in case you’re wondering – I thought this project would take at least 6 weeks to complete with additional workers and actually took just 5 weeks – with LESS workers!!
So how did I do it?
1. I made a plan and DIDN’T stick to it!
The original plan involved a different renovation and a different end result. It also involved decorators – and I don’t mean me! But things didn’t go according to plan and, I ended up decorating the entire 129 sqm (1390 sqft) property myself. It was a BIG task.
What started as a ‘gap-filling’ exercise in-between appointments while waiting for the double glazing people to arrive, and project managing on-site for key installs – ended up with me doing the work. That was not part of the plan…but then most plans went out of the window! Agile development, I believe, is the software term for what ended up being my method of working!
2. I took plenty of time OFF!
This runs contrary to what I would normally do. However, due to other commitments (I’m also at the final stages of two other big projects and was launching my Property Investment book) I could NOT be on site every day. Nor could I work really long days. I literally had too much else on to be able to do that.
And all of this is the complete opposite to how I would normally do things. Usually I would be on a project everyday and usually long into the evening. However, this time around I learned the importance of ‘rest’ days – or rather ‘office’ days. Especially when you’re not used to manual labour, these rest days are critical for re-building your strength and energy levels.
3. I did only what I LOVED!
When you’re doing a property renovation that’s short on time and money the natural instinct is to do everything yourself. The ‘rip out’ is something I usually take great pleasure in. This time though, I didn’t feel it – I wimped out and paid someone else. This was an immense source of relief for me, was money well spent and gave me a great deal of satisfaction. I didn’t have to deal with the shit – so I could get on with other stuff I enjoyed.
I also always had the crucial back-up plan of getting decorators in. When the moments came (as they did!) when I felt I’d I’d bitten off more than I could chew paint – I knew I always had a safety net and I could down tools at any time.
But, I didn’t.
The sheer enjoyment and satisfaction that came from knowing I was doing it all by myself – and that I could do it all by myself was too much of a motivating reward for me.
It still is now. I am incredibly proud of what I achieved – especially when I had not set out to do that – nor had I allowed the time for it!!
4. I decided how FAR to go from the outset
This was a buy to let renovation which means I am not creating a show home – it is a business asset. Period. I soon realised that by removing all of the wallpaper in the bedrooms and the knock on effect this had on my workload, that I had created a nightmare for myself. Days were spent on preparation – scraping, filling and sanding walls – which by all accounts needed skimming, or having lining paper put up.
I learned quickly from that initial mistake and stopped myself removing any more wallpaper and painted over it instead. It’s not a tip you will see featured in many property renovation articles – but then maybe people don’t like to admit their short-cuts. The finish of these painted-over-wallpapered walls is probably better than the other walls where I removed the wallpaper and, took a quarter of the time and effort to get an equivalent result!
5. I regularly reviewed progress and planned next steps
Because I was on my own most of the time, it meant I had to multi-task and be in several places at the same time. Every night I would review what I had achieved and plan my work for the next day and beyond. This meant I could get on with tasks in the correct order and not hold myself up while I was waiting for filler, or paint, to dry!
Appointments were scheduled and fittings were planned according to my progress – which I could map out in advance. I knew my capabilities and what I could do within a given time slot.
6. I learned the art of LITTLE BY LITTLE
There comes a time in a project when you just feel totally and utterly overwhelmed. You look around you and say: “WTF? How the hell am I going to do this?” You want to run out, close the door very quickly and forget you ever started the project.
I had many times like that.
They were hard. There were several times when I looked around at all the work I had to do and said to myself:
“Girl, you cannot be serious!!!”
At that point I would take myself off into the garden, have a coffee and self-flagellate myself for a few minutes at my own stupidity. Then, I would get back on. I would turn the music up REAL loud and find a smaller chunk of the bigger task I could get on with – then I went to work on that.
Little by little, the whole started to take shape. Before I knew it the ‘BIG’ task I had previously been so overwhelmed by, had been completed. I learned the art of little by little. It gains momentum.
7. Everyday I pushed myself a little bit MORE
I’m quite a competitive person – especially with myself. No matter what my daily targets – even when I had achieved them earlier or quicker than expected – I pushed myself to do something more. Even if it was to paint one more door, finish the paint tray I was on, or get to the end of a song. And then when I had done that, I pushed for maybe a bit more, and then a little bit more.
Little targets once achieved, need to be re-set and pushed a bit further away. Not much though – it’s very incremental. It can’t be so that they feel too big or unachievable. It’s just a little. And that little bit of extra effort every day ended up creating much bigger and quicker results in the end.
8. I FOCUSSED exclusively on one project at a time
At the time when I was doing this project I had loads of other stuff on the go and, so trying to give it my full attention was tough going. I therefore created a distinct separation between ‘office days’ and ‘site days’ – when I wasn’t in the office I was in site-mode and vice versa. That meant my mobile was switched off, and emails and calls were only checked on my allotted break-time 4-5 times per day. While on site, I would also only ever deal with office stuff on a ‘need to do now‘ basis. My time at site was exclusively time at site and thinking about the property renovation.
This focus and switching off (or rather intentional action/ non-action) had the result of making my “office day” feel like a day off and my “site day” feel like a day off. It was a win-win situation.
Focus brought clarity of thinking and planning and, delivered better results more effectively and efficiently. I didn’t have time to dilly-dally – stuff had to get done in the allotted time – otherwise it wouldn’t get done! At no point did I allow the task to fill the time available – the time that was allocated and available was all that was allowed for the task to get done. This was probably one of the most efficient uses of my time I have ever discovered.
9. I always kept the END goal in sight
Everyday, especially when the going got tough and I hit the pain barrier (or rather the overwhelming ‘WTF were you thinking!!!’ barrier), I would remind myself WHY I was doing what I was doing.
I would focus on the end result.
I would think about the people who would move into the property, and then I would think about the rent they were going to pay me. It was that simple: I needed to produce a property which people wanted to rent.
It was this clarity of the end goal as a deliverable which made it easier to visualise and to complete. And most likely spurred me on to complete – ahead of schedule!
Caroline at The Letting People
We loved this blog Sam – very inspirational … when you can’t see the end in sight! Thanks for the visualisation idea 🙂
Sam
Glad to have been of help 🙂