A, or B, or C? How to Get Unstuck and Make a D**n Decision!

I sometimes joke that I should change my job description from “Architect” to “Professional Helper of Decision-Making,” because I spend so much time doing it!

My first jobs out of college were all in construction - first in the field and as a laborer, and then in the office as an assistant, estimator, and project manager - and these are all great places to learn how to make decisions. There seem like 1000s of decisions to make every day, and they can all feel important, weighty, and full of risk.

When I became an architect, I saw another side of decision making - helping my clients make 1000s of decisions that come up during design - from “should I sell my house or renovate it” to “should I spend more on systems up front to minimize operational costs, or will that shrink my budget for cool finishes too much” to “what kind of faucet color do I like?”

Sometimes clients will, in a state of pure overload, look at me and say “just tell me what to do, I’m tired of making decisions!”

I get it. As a business owner, as someone who’s done her own gut home renovation, as someone navigating modern life with no instruction book…sometimes I just want someone to tell me what to do too!

I write a lot about nuts and bolts construction in these newsletters, but I honestly think this may be one of the most important ones I’ve ever written. It’s something I’ve been working on and thinking about a lot over the years!

As I’ve worked with clients on all aspects of design and construction projects, I’ve noticed the dread, fatigue, and annoyance of having to make so many decisions, and folks feeling stuck. There’s a reason architects joke that we should have degrees in marriage counseling - and we’re not just talking about residential projects!

This stuff is hard. But I promise, at the very end, I summarize it in two bullet points, and five words.

Ok, so…let’s dive in

Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see clients making, and here are some of the best way I know of to make decisions - hopefully these can help you keep things moving in whatever way you need it!