On Today's Episode

Getting Unstuck [00:00 - 7:08]

Life's busy and projects and maintenance and all kinds of other jobs can get pushed to the side. And often, when that happens, there's a bit of guilt that starts to build. We should be wrapping these things up. And if we're not, what does that say about us?

Well, I'm in the middle of a long slog through this and in my efforts to figure out what I might need to do to get myself moving again, I think I stumbled on some obvious info that might be helpful to more people than just me.

So, if you're feeling overwhelmed and a little guilty about projects at home, maybe this will help a little.

CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK

It sounds touchy-feely, but being down on yourself--being negative--isn't productive. Negativity doesn't produce more results or better results. It really just slows the process down. So it's important to ease up on yourself a little bit. You're not a lazy homeowner, you're just busy.

Maintaining a home is a marathon and it's OK to take your time as you move through your projects. So, stop beating yourself up for what you may feel is a lack of results. That's first. But there's a lot more....

GET MOVING WITH A LIST

For me, the problem is basically that there are so many things I'd like to do or need to do that I don't know which to do first. They hover over me, filling up my mind, and I find myself randomly chasing down projects only to abandon them part way through when I see the next "squirrel". In the end, I find I'm almost running in circles.

If you've got so many things to do that you don't know where to start, here's something simple: make a list. Just brainstorm. Everything that comes to mind, everything that's looming over you, demanding your attention. Take all of those things and throw them down on paper. You're not prioritizing this list yet. You're not filtering it. You're just throwing everything you can think of that's bothering you, that needs to be done, that you want to see changed . . . down on that pad of paper.

Once that's done, then sort the list into 3 categories: Must Do; Should Do; and Would Like To Do.

If you get all the way through that step, you've just solved your "I don't know what to do first" problem. You've got a list of maybe 3, 5, 10 or more Must Do projects. That's a perfect place to start.

TIME TO START

Now that you've got those Must Do projects clearly identified, now what you (and I need) is a little momentum. We need to see some success. We need to see how good it feels to cross something off the list . . . and we need to leverage that energy, that momentum, into more accomplished projects.

So pick one of the smaller Must Do projects and get it done. You don't need to tackle it all in one work session, but don't start any other projects from your list until this first one is done. That's really key! You need to start, work through, and finish this first one.

FIGURE IT OUT or HIRE IT OUT!

Sometimes it's having too many projects that causes us to get stuck. But sometimes we're stuck because we don't know how to do something. We know we don't know how to do it, we're convinced it may be difficult to figure it out, and so we just linger in limbo.

I do that all the time. I'm too cheap to hire things out usually (and I feel that I should be able to figure them out and do them); but I'm also convinced that certain things are going to present a ridiculous learning curve. And so I just push the project to the back of my mind and hang out in that horrible limbo.

That's not productive--obviously! And if that's you, it's time to either jump in and learn the skills necessary, or hire the work done. I know that hiring things done sometimes feels like a cop-out. I also know it sounds expensive. But it also sounds like progress. And seeing projects get crossed off my list is really going to ease up on some of my anxiety levels!

So, if you know you just aren't going to have the time to tackle a project, or if you just don't feel you can learn the skills quickly enough, or if the tools are so specialized that you don't want to buy them . . . bring in a professional. It's worth it!

If you're bound and determine to tackle the project . . . then it's time to jump in, learn what you need to learn, and get it done. Stop delaying. Look at your list of things that need to be done and put an asterisk by any that are going to require you to learn something new. And then make work of learning those skills!

My son had a clicking in his car for months. It was driving him nuts. He looked up the problem, but was convinced the fix was just beyond his abilities. He didn't want to drop the money to bring it in and so he just tolerated it. Until he couldn't tolerate it any longer. Finally, he devoted a Saturday to the project and planned to spend the morning watching YouTube videos until he understood what he needed to do. Turns out, after watching the second 4-minute video, he knew everything he needed to know. 20 minutes later, he had the part out and was off to the parts store for a replacement. Another 20 minutes later and the whole thing was fixed.

He'd delayed for months because he'd convinced himself it was tougher than it was. That could easily be the case with projects that are delaying you and I. Find out! Identify them, dig into them, and who knows . . . you might find that something you've delayed doing for months can be fixed in a few hours.

IT'S A MARATHON

Home ownership, maintenance, and decorating is a marathon. Unless you've got some hard and fast deadline (selling the house, hosting a party, etc), you have time to work through the projects at your pace.

So, personally, I need to take a step back. Take a deep breath. Make a list . . . and start working at it, one project at a time.

The State of Real Estate [7:09 - 31:19]

The world of Real Estate has been crazy for a while. Today we're talking with Sue Prins and Ginger Herman from Sue Prins Group Five-Star Real Estate Leaders about what it looks like for buyers and sellers.

• SUE PRINS: 616-723-2400
• GINGER HERMAN: 616-633-5880

Pine Staining Woes (and Fixes) [31:20 - 35:58]

When staining pine, it's not uncommon to see the results turn out looking blotchy. If you're looking to fix that, we've got some steps that will help.