Interested in Stress-Free Construction Planning?
Well, if you've ever felt the dread of taking on a daunting task like construction, you're familiar. It seems monumental and knowing how construction always has surprise costs and sudden problems, it may seem impossible to plan ahead with any real hope of easing stress. But it is entirely possible, even if you've never made a construction plan. Whether you are well-versed in planning ahead or a novice with construction planning, we can help with these 9 tips.
The first important tip is to refrain form overwhelming yourself before you start. Yes, researching a project is important, but remember, while the same types of projects have similarities, each project is also individual and unique. No two bathroom renovations or home addition projects are the same. So, research is good, but don't get bowled over by the endless amount of available information and how-to videos on the internet. Sure, you should be familiar with what, for example, a bathroom renovation project entails and have a realistic budget, but as each individual construction is different, so too are the specifics of the stages.
At that point, it's time to start with three phases: Coordinate, Schedule, Plan.
With no experience, planning can feel complicated. Still, as we said above, no matter your experience level, we are going to present 9 Steps to Stress-Free Construction Planning.
You can even implement these steps if you're limited with regard to time. Just make sure that you follow the steps as closely as possible and try not to skimp. Of course, the more you can do in planning, the better off you'll be. But, a plan is better than no plan, any day. So, keep that in mind as you move forward. The results will be much more coherent and serve the purpose of stress-reduction more fully.
Whatever your circumstances you should:
To carry out the following steps, you must necessarily have prior research completed, and subsequently be able to reasonably stay on budget. Then when doing your actual construction planning, make sure your ideas are clear and based on both your research and budgeting. Clarity, in and of itself, when paired with logical steps are key in reducing stress and headaches through a well-developed construction plan. Here are the steps along with questions to keep in mind at each stage:
Before carrying out any task make sure you know what is desired and why. This means knowing:
Strategic thinking is having clarity of ideas and concepts. Also, as stated, clarity is vital. Alone, it eliminates anxiety and stress. Many people get bogged down at this first step and don't get out of this part. That inertia only serves to consume time and energy and is a hindrance.
Ask yourself these clear questions:
Those questions may sound elementary, but they are basic for a reason. Having a clear purpose and clarity of expectations going forward eliminates untold amounts of stress in each task or activity.
These questions are important precursors to beginning work or creating something like a Gantt chart. They define what is needed to begin work, and despite being basic, they are often overlooked, which leads to stress later on.
Now, maybe if you don't have enough experience, this is your biggest question. The question involves asking when you're going to start the work. In all scenarios, evaluate all the pros and cons, keep the best balance of time and budget, and try to mitigate those to the best of your ability.
Organising and planning are closely related. And ask what accomplishes more and does so with the most quality at each stage of work. If you decide to divide tasks into smaller ones, which is a good idea, ask how:
You have to decide on the best frame of organisation of work. It is more important than you think. Without this and the previous step, planning is fruitless. Remember that work should produce results, and organisation is key.
Now we are entering a second phase, where we have outlined the general lines of our planning, and now begin to focus on detail. We must, therefore, know more specific details of the construction planning.
Parts of this phase involve double-checking measurements, budgets, materials, costs, and contracts.
At this point, it is good to use a computer program or app to help. Taking into account all the data we have so far, we may have one or more variables, but they will be less stressful ones.
This step is specific planning work. If we are working in an organisation, searching for information is easy. We are surrounded by people who may know. If this is not our case, or we are not within an organisation we must train ourselves and go find the information that we need. If you are here you already know where to look for it, too.
This phase breaks down steps into ones that are easier to assimilate and carry out what is planned. It involves implementation and control. And it summarises many of the tasks, in broad strokes, that will keep us very busy during the execution of the work.
This step concerns the way in which we must monitor, control our Plan. It's important to try and nip problems in the bud, and deal with them immediately. Moreover, make sure that you never get so busy putting out small fires that a greater fire is generated.
Planning the right way is very important, not only to avoid future extra work, but also to make a job that seems inherently stressful, less stressful or even stress-free. We hope that these steps given here, will help you along in creating and following a stress-free construction plan.
