era | Making Decisions
Did you know that one of the BIGGest parts of making architecture involves making decisions?
When you begin your journey to design and build architecture, you probably don’t put much thought into how many decisions you might have to make along the way.
You will likely be too caught up in the romance of designing your own home.
Or distracted by all of the little ideas that you have to begin to think about the decisions you will have in front of you.
There are a lot of parts to a building. As such, there are a lot of decisions to be made about
what the parts will be
where the parts will be located
how the parts will fit together
And each part needs to fit to meet the requirements of
purpose
place
people
program
aesthetic
There are so many pieces of popcorn to choose from - which one works best for you?
Decision Making Overwhelm is real.
Even architects suffer from it, and they make multiple decisions every day!
Don’t underestimate the affect that making too many decisions within a short period of time, can have on your mental and physical health.
The overwhelm is real and will have a real affect on you.
I am not a doctor of any kind, so I don’t have a scientific understanding or technical terminology to define the affects, but I have experienced the overwhelm many times.
The way I understand it is that our brains seem to have a quota of decisions that they can make in any one day
When your brain reaches its limit, there is not much you can do. It literally seems as though your brain heads off to sleep and cannot make even the smallest of decisions beyond its quota.
Done.
Finite.
The affects don’t only create an impact on the decisions you are trying to make with relation to your architecture. they affect the decisions you are making in other parts of your life as well - what will you have for dinner? - what time will you meet your friend for a drink? - who will do what and when and how??
I have been in positions where I was making many decisions every day. I would crash on the couch by 8pm from the exhaustion of the day and awake at 3am anticipating what would be coming up. My body was tired and my brain was so overwhelmed that I could not make any decision outside of the architecture I was making. My husband took on all of the decision making for both of us, handled our personal lives and I came along for the ride!
You can limit the affects of the number of decisions you will need to make by preparing for it.
Strategies to assist making decisions.
Don’t leave decisions to the last minute | P l a n A h e a d - Use the time when you are designing your architecture to make decisions. Work out as much as you can and make as many decisions as you can before you start to build. If you leave decisions til the time when you are building your architecture, there will be more pressure on you to make decisions within shorter time frames.
Let go of getting it ‘right’ | L i m i t D i s t r a c t i o n s - This is such a tricky one to define, because you can feel a lot of pressure with architecture to make things right - in other words, to make it the best outcome for you. Who doesn’t want that! But what is right for you? What is the best outcome for you?? When there are too many options, it is distracting because you cannot focus on the decision you are making.
It may seem like a good idea to scout Pinterest or Instagram for ideas or inspiration, but it can distract and confuse you from what the best outcome is for you. This is because there is just too much to look at! Maybe you really do want that navy blue kitchen rather than the timber kitchen you’ve been dreaming about since you were a child. And geez, that tile looks amazing - that might be better than the polished concrete that suits you in so many other ways. The amount of information is OVERWHELMING! Your brain just can’t handle that much content and it gets confused. When you are confused, you can’t make a decision.
Try a few things to get it right and limit distractions
Your initial instinct in answer to a problem is often the right one for you, so use it.
Try to give yourself some criteria to help you limit cruising the internet without a purpose.
Look at what you know first | C r e a t e C o n s t r a i n t s - When you collect the things you know, the things that are unknown begin to fall into place. There are SO MANY OPTIONS!! But when you create some constraints with the things that you already know about your purpose, people, place and program, making a decision about one of your parts will start to fall into place.
Don’t rush in | A s k Q u e s t i o n s - You may be put under pressure to make decisions in a short period of time. Ask your designer or contractor early on to give you a list of the information they will need to know from you and define when they need it from you so that you have time to consider the decision you are making and can make sure you get it to them in plenty of time.
What suits you? | C h o o s e y o u r p r o c e s s - If you know you are prone to negative affects when it comes to making decisions, choose a process where the number of decisions you need to make are limited. This means choosing someone to make them for you. That someone may be a project home builder or an architect. You put your trust in them making the decisions about all of the little things [and big!].
Tools to help you.
I believe that gathering information is the most important part in the process of architecture.
Not only does it inform the architecture that will be specific to you, but it also helps you to make decisions.
I have made some templates as tools to help you put the information you gather about your purpose, place, people, program and parts so that you have one place where that information is stored. It also means that you have one place where your decisions are being made. You can use these documents to communicate the information you have gathered and the decisions you have made to
refer to when you are making decisions in the future
communicate the information you have gathered and the decisions you have made to others.
You can find all of the templates I have made for you here.
I hope that they help you make architecture specific to you!
There is so much to say about this topic and no clear answer when it comes to managing making so many decisions that will be unfamiliar to you, without falling into a complete mess.
I will keep updating this post as I come across more strategies for managing the process to limit the decision making overwhelm. And check in every now and then to see the templates that have been added.
My hope is that you don’t end up on the floor in tears, but find a way to enjoy the process - including the number of decisions you will have to make along the way.
Your Place.
I have set up a special place where you can find little things and little ways to help you design + build your place.
I will add things to this place as time goes by and I would love to hear if there is anything that will help you! Connect with me and let me know what would be useful for you to see there.
Til next time!
Start the process to find your architectural language and make your little ideas a reality.
Click here to see the little things I have made for you, or click here if you would like to work with me one on one.