Have You Thought It Through?

Moving furniture and rooms around yesterday was fun. We knew what the outcome would be, but there was a lot of finger crossing that we could move the larger furniture from one room to the next without having to dismantle anything.

Teamwork makes the dreamwork as they say and that was what was required to make the change happen. Shifting a very large desk through a door was a challenge but we did it. It was only going into the next room but it wouldn’t fit into the new room the way it went out of the old room. So after trying to squeeze a square peg in a round hole, we stopped. Breathed. And thought of our next move.

All we needed to do was flip the desk. Easy right? Well it would’ve been if we had not emptied the contents of the room into the hallway before hand. We then moved furniture and possessions out of the way, clearing a space to enable us to upend and flip the desk. We had to be careful as it was close to walls, the roof and door but with slow manoeuvres we got the desk into the next room and breathed out!

In this instance, although we had measured the desk and knew it would fit into the other room, we hadn’t thought about how it would actually fit through the door until we began moving it. This desk was built in the room, it was never meant to leave it.

When you are so busy looking at the end result, you sometimes forget to check about the practicalities of how it will actually work or how to get there.

When thinking of goals or where we want to be, I’ve spoken previously about chunking it up and making it a set of smaller tasks. This, in my opinion is the best method to get where you want to go. But you have to think of the ‘how’s’. These can be so obvious you don’t even think about it as an issue or it doesn’t even spring to mind, or you may have forgotten all about it. So when setting out to achieve your goal or room move, stop, make a list and make sure you make a step to check out how it will work in practice.

For example, if you decided you wanted to move from the city to the country or vice versa, it’s easy to do in theory but how will you actually move your belongings there? Is there a company you can use or will you have to hire a van and do it yourself? Is this something you are happy to do? What about your job, will you need to be in the office as often or can you work from home. Have you asked your manager if this will be possible before going ahead with buying or renting the new property? Maybe you have a dog and each day a dog walker pops by and goes for a midday walk. Will you still need this in your new place or are you going to make some changes to your daily routine to fit the walk in instead?

Another example could be, you want to study part time for a new qualification or a professional qualification as part of your job. You know what you want to study, but aside from attending classes or being online for learning, have you thought about the time you will need to learn? How many assignments will you get throughout the length of the course? Do you have any exams to study for? This takes time. Do you have the time to give? Can you carve out time each day or week to dedicate to studying?

Signing up for the course is easy, making a decision about a career change or moving up a level is a huge decision. If you haven’t thought about the actual practicalities of the time you will need to invest in studying and coursework, then it may be a challenge to fit this into your day to day. This is the part that is often overlooked. Time never stops or waits, we don’t get any back and we can’t reclaim it. Can you give up time in the evenings and weekends to dedicate to your learning and development? If it helps, think of the long term gain over the short term losses.

If you are in the process of working towards a goal or project, stop and check. Have you thought through everything? Is there any practicalities you may have overlooked? Are there any assumptions you have made to a particular part you feel or think are so obvious you didn’t factor in as it will just work? Have a look, make a list and double check. You wouldn’t want to be disappointed if it could be avoided.

Have a great week, thank you for reading and look after you.

Love Emma xx