A guide on how to effectively manage your time when undertaking DIY projects.

1. Time management for DIY
projects
Are you the sort of person who ends up with a DIY project that goes on and on and on
until the whole family end up totally fed up as they spend months feeling like they’re
living on a building site, or having to manage without a bath or half the kitchen?
There are many people just like you, and it’s not that you don’t have the abilities or
the inclination, it may be that you don’t actually have the time, but it is more likely
that you struggle to successfully manage your time to fit in the DIY jobs that need
doing.
The first step to effectively managing your time on a DIY project is to plan the job out
before you begin. Divide the task into small chunks and work out a time frame for
each one. For example, if you are renovating your kitchen you may have ‘Remove
lino’ and ‘Lay terracotta floor tiles’ as two of the jobs on the list. If you have
completed similar tasks then you may well have a good idea of how long this will

2. take, if you don’t then ask friends and family for a rough time estimate. Failing that,
find a DIY forum online. Ask politely and someone in the know is bound to help you.
The next task is to work out when and how you can fit these tasks into your schedule.
Do you find yourself rushing about all the time and don’t have any extended time
periods within which to work on your DIY project? If so you need to focus on
creating a period of time. For example, if you spend a lot of time ferrying the kids
around to clubs or friend’s houses, can you organise with other parents for them to do
the journeys this week, and you’ll do them all next week perhaps? Or could you set
aside some time in the school holidays, co-ordinate a holiday with the grandparents
for the kids, with some time off work for you, within which you can concentrate on
the DIY jobs undisturbed.
Perhaps you need to make some small changes to your lifestyle to fit in some jobs. If
you go to the gym every night after work for an hour, then spend two hours cooking a
meal; those three hours could be spent finishing a project. Perhaps once a week you
could pass on the gym and order a takeaway, to give you that extra time you need to
get your DIY task done and dusted.
When you do have a block of time allocated, make sure you have everything ready
well in advance or you will waste time looking for a missing tool or rushing out to
buy extra materials. When you’ve been lucky enough to get yourself a good amount
of time to work, don’t waste it, make sure you get to use the whole time for working.
Make sure you’re not interrupted too, and don’t be easily tempted away if a friend
calls round or you get a phone call inviting you out.
We have a broad range of DIY tools for you to hire; to find out more go to
www.hss.com