How to Employ These 6 Powerful Stress Busters During Remodeling
1. All Things Are Temporary
I think it was Jewel who penned the lyrics, “Everything is temporary if you give it enough time,” in her song Stephenville, TX.
Let this be your mantra during remodeling.
Stress busters help you keep reality in sight. And the reality is that remodeling is only a temporary job. It’s a process of demolition, rebuild, and clean up. The process might go on longer than you would like, but it will come to an end. Keep this in mind.
2. Create a Sanctuary in Your Home
No matter what part of the house you’re remodeling, it’s going to affect the entire household. Like a little river, your life flows in a certain way. And that flow is going to be interrupted by construction.
But your tranquility doesn’t have to be.
One of many stress busters that can help you carry on even in a mess is to find a reprieve from it. Dedicate a part of your home that construction won’t touch for this getaway. This will serve as your sanctuary.
3. Get on Top of the Detour
While your home is under construction, you’re going to may have to find another way of completing daily tasks.
Things like cooking, doing laundry, washing dishes, letting the dog out, for example. You might not think of these things as needing a detour, but many of these chores are going to be roadblocked.
So, get on top of it. Outline your everyday duties and make a plan to compensate for the loss of the ones impacted by the remodeling.
4. Plan for More of Everything
It suffices to say that remodeling rarely goes 100% as planned. Although you know this is true, you might be tempted to hope that your project will be the exception.
Hope away, but don’t plan on it.
Instead, plan on needing more of everything. Plan on going over budget, having a bigger mess, and the job taking longer than estimated.
Stress busters like planning for imperfection might seem negative, but they’re not. When things go right, you’ll be ecstatic. And if things go off-path, you’ll still be calm because you already planned for it.
5. Accept the Momentary Disaster
Although you can visualize your ultimate remodeling goal, you might have overlooked the part in the middle where everything will look like a disaster. It’s this part that usually unnerves homeowners.
And for good reason, too. After all, who wants to see their home an absolute wreck. The silent fear is that it will never be put back together again. But it will. That’s sort of the nature of remodeling.
Stress busters like visualization can help you to accept the momentary disaster. Picture your home a dusty, remodeling mess and know it’s all going to be okay. When the dust actually does begin to fly, you won’t be in shock. You’ll be cool as a cucumber.
6. Delegate a Communication Expert
If you’re like most homeowners undergoing a remodel, you’ve got some sentiment wrapped up in your home. Your contractor most likely doesn’t. What this could mean is that the two of you may be on two different wavelengths.
To the contractor, this is a job. To you, this is your home. Finding common ground on which to communicate might be challenging.
So, have a backup in your corner.
Instead of doing all the communication by yourself, delegate your partner or a good friend to navigate through the serious stuff. Having a middleman is one of the most positive stress busters to employ during remodeling.
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If you’re undergoing a big change in your life, such as a remodel, and need help to navigate it, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Together we can hurdle any roadblock you might face.