5 experts tips to keep your DIY project motivation high

The beginning of a DIY house improvement project is fun and games – you are probably looking forward to the result and look forward to learning new skills. They are also sure that they feel the feeling of pride to complete the work themselves. But soon enough regret.

Our BHG 2024 DIY trend report shows that 89% of those surveyed have experienced the so-called Mid Project Religret Syndrome or MPRS. It is the feeling that you have half of a task that lets you ask you why you have started at all, and it is often the reason to stop a project as a whole. In fact, 74% of people said BHG that they had semi -finished projects in their houses because they simply lost motivation. In this article we will talk to experts about how you can keep spirits and inspiration high to ensure that you end these improvements at home, which you look forward to.

How to stay motivated during a DIY project

Staying motivated and postponing the symptoms is the key to completing projects for the home improvement and is not halfway. “I try to remember that I look ridiculous if I am only in the middle of a haircut,” says Al Ruggie, Marketing Director at ASAP Restoration LLC. “Usually you cannot judge the quality of a job when the job has ended – Haircuts and DIY construction projects are all the same.”

Read on to learn five options to maintain motivation while completing a DIY project.

1. Plan ahead

The more preparation you do in front of a large DIY project, the more motivated you become. Think about what you can do well – you could be great in patching drywall wall, but you are missing the patience and precision that is required for painting.

“You have to look at the entire scope of work before starting a project and determine whether every step is on the way that you can do comfortably and that you have the desire,” says Ruggie. “It could be a situation in which it is best to come in and end the end. Otherwise you may have an unfinished drywall patch until you sell the house,” says Ruggie.

If you immediately go through a thorough list of tasks, do not start a project that you cannot end realistically, and it helps you to stay on the right track.

“Most major projects require several steps and phases before they ever reach completion,” says Ruggie. “With such projects, it is best to have at least an understanding of what all steps are. Then you can determine what time take and which tools or skills you may not have. ”

2. Prepare for setbacks

Ruggie spent more than a year to complete a deck in his back yard and had to remain flexible after a series of setbacks. The deck was a complicated Pentagon design that used an invisible security system to avoid the appearance of screw holes in the wood. It also included decorative gabion turrets (cages with decorative rocks).

“I am a perfectionist when it comes to my own projects, but to be honest, this was really only plagued by several attacks of fatigue from mid-project,” admits Ruggie.

At some point he distributed his shoulder and experienced pain that made the cutting of wire cages extremely difficult for stones. When he later realized that he had to place more than 10,000 rocks in the wire cages individually to achieve his desired appearance, he had to change the plans again. This time he decided to work at night when the heat of Arizona was not so extreme.

“There will be times when progress feels unbearably slow. There will be times when you feel that the whole thing is a disaster and you want to give up completely, ”says Ruggies. “In these situations, it is easiest to divide big tasks into minor tasks so that they feel that progress is always made, even if it slowed down on a crawl.”

It is important to plan setbacks and delays in every project. You may find in half of a tile job that your local hardware store has more from the grout that you have used in the color you need. This can wait a few days that a new tub will be sent. You could also have something at work that attracts your attention for a few days from a project.

“If you force these life events to take a break, it is also a good opportunity to assess the previous direction,” says Ruggie. “If you determine a better or faster way to do something during a break, this could make the rest of the project easier, but you would not have known it without the shift in perspectives.”

3 .. Install milestones and rewards

Instead of writing “Renovate bedroom” on your to-do list, you can simplify important tasks so that you can access you on the way. This detailed list can contain steps such as “patch walls”, “adhesive tape and preparation for color”, “Prime Fasboards”, etc. If you do this, make sure that you set realistic goals about what you can do and give you a feeling of performance in every step of the way.

“Water what is left of the project in smaller pieces and suddenly concentrate on a piece and then reward yourself with a break and something meaningful for you,” says Anastasia Ristau, PhD, LP, Clinical Psychologist and Director of Psychotherapeutics at Prairiecare.

A reward could mean going out for dinner or switching to a more exciting task of buying new furniture for the finished bedroom – something that feels easier and funnier. It is also important to think about the progress that you have achieved so far, especially if you feel that you have made none.

“Show your progress and enjoy a meaning of performance in every step of the way,” says Ristau. This can include posting photos on social media or sending news to friends and family in order to update them about their progress. If you divide the project into smaller tasks in advance, you can also check the elements from your to-do list. Finally, remember to keep an eye on the price.

“The review of this vision of boards, pictures or mantras that you found at the beginning of your project to connect with your” Why “again, and what she initially inspired can be helpful, especially in the middle stages of a DIY project,” says Ristau.

4 .. Stay flexible and accept your plan

When Ruggie promised his shoulder halfway through his Gabion Tower Deck project, he had to adjust to his physical restrictions. One possibility of how he got through was to set even smaller, more realistic goals for himself.

“Personally, I like to be justification scenarios for myself, ”he says. “If I had to dig holes to insert the gabion turret, I said to myself: 'You can't do anything else until the ditch is finished.' Then when it was finished, I celebrated. ”

You can plan a project of what you want, but life usually throws curveballs, so it is good to anticipate this opportunity.

5. Please ask for help

If you are looking for additional encouragement, it can be so easy to call a friend for this additional thrust.

“Pass out with friends or family members so that you have a room to be real, and ask you to give you the PEP lecture that you need to help you achieve a hard route and to remind you of your skills and strengths in this project,” says Ristau.

Ruggie says he prefers to tell friends and family about the project so that they can take him into account.

“In this way, the people who are important to me and with whom most speak, ask how the project is going and what progress I have asked since last time,” he says. “If I feel guilty not to do enough in a project, the view motivates me to speak to someone who knows what I can expect from this project, some of these work before I talk to them again so that I have some good news when I do it.”

If you have tried to regain your motivation, but still feel overwhelmed, it may be time to hire a specialist.