The Design Roadmap Part II: Your Design Schedule

Learning to make a design schedule may be the most transformative thing I've done in my business. That’s why I’m so excited to talk with you about it today.  

Let’s review. The Design Roadmap tells us three things:

• What we’re going to do (Design Process)
• How long it’s going to take (Design Schedule)
• How much it’s going to cost (Design Budget)

I like to think of it like a tricycle with three wheels, all of which are needed to keep the trike moving forward smoothly.  Last week I talked about the first wheel on the tricycle, the Design Process.  This week I’m going to add in the second wheel: Your Design Schedule, i.e.: How long it’s going to take.  

Why is making a Design Schedule so transformative?  

#1: It reduces overwhelm

Before I was in the habit of making design schedules for all my projects it was really easy to get overwhelmed by all of my projects.  I’d sit down and write out everything I needed to do on all of my projects (which was a lot, maybe you can relate!), and I felt like it all needed to be done NOW. Of course that’s impossible, so I felt an overwhelming amount of stress and defeat before I had even begun.  I needed to learn how to break the overall project down into bite-sized pieces and schedule them out week-by-week into an actionable plan.  

#2: It puts you back in control

The other thing that would happen before I had a design schedule was I was constantly in fire-fighting mode on my projects.  I’d get a call from a client asking what was happening in their project because they hadn’t heard from me in awhile and I’d realize a month had gone by since our last meeting.  I’d say something like “I was just going to email you to set up  our next meeting (not), how about Friday?” (I’m sure they could see right through that, lol! ).  Then I’d scramble to complete the work in a few days, working long hours fueled by adrenaline and caffeine.  The presentation would go great, and I’d collapse in relief and euphoria because I’d pulled it off!  I felt like a design hero!  Meanwhile, I had ignored all of my other projects and after a brief rest I needed to scramble to put out the next fire.  It was an endless and exhausting cycle of stress. 

Another thing that would happen before I had a design schedule was I would get calls from contractors telling me they were ready to start the project and needed the final drawings when I was nowhere near finished.  Not wanting to let them down or delay the schedule, I'd hustle to complete the work as soon as possible.  I’d make promises to get it done in a week or two and then kill myself to get it done.  

Bottom line - before I had a design schedule, I was being reactive  in my business.  I was reacting to everyone else's requests and priorities.  Not my own. 

Creating a design schedule put ME back in control of my calendar and my schedule.  When I started creating design schedules for my projects, I became proactive in my business. 

Here’s what it looks like now:  I make a design schedule for my project and I share it with the client. We have all of our meetings and presentations planned out from start to finish so we can all plan out our calendars and minimize disruptions.  We know exactly when they will be getting their completed drawings and specifications, and when they’ll be ready to go to the Contractor.  Before we begin work, all of their expectations are set about when things are going to get done, and when the work will be completed.  They understand how many months of work there is from the start.   We look like pros from the beginning and a level of trust is established.  

The biggest difference I see now is that I rarely ever get calls/emails asking for things.  I thought I would have push-back from people for how long things take, but almost without exception, people accept my schedules at face-value.  They’re happy to have a plan and know what to expect.  Everyone can relax and trust the process.  This is PRICELESS. 

Now I get to decide how long things are going to take and I’m no longer in fire-fighting mode, jumping to everyone else's requests.  I can plan out my work and be in control of my own calendar and schedule, and what could be better than that?  

How do you create your own Design Schedule? 

Step 1: Remember your design process where you wrote out everything you were going to on the project?  Really list out all of the steps you’re actually going to take and how long each one will take.  

Tip: I just do this as a handwritten list where I brainstorm all the steps I will take and write down time estimates for each one.  Keep it loose and work with your brain!  

Step 2: Identify your key milestones in the process - meetings and deliverables.  All of the work you’re going to do is working toward meetings/presentations and deliverables.  Highlight these and number them in order.  

Step 3: Pace out the presentations and deliverables week by week.  Based on the amount of time and the scope of work, set up a recurring rhythm for your project.  Do you want to have a weekly meeting?  Bi-weekly?  I find for some phases, every 3 weeks can be a good rhythm, depending on my workload.  

Tip: Consider not just  the actual hours the work takes, but mental space as well.  For instance, even though it might only be 10 hours of work to get a presentation done, you probably won’t be up for doing two consecutive presentations for a single client in one week.  Both you and the client would probably feel overloaded (or maybe not - it’s up to you!)

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So there you have it!  Making a Design Schedule is pretty easy, considering how TRANSFORMATIVE it is.  If there’s one thing you take from everything I teach, I hope it will be to start creating design schedules for yourself.  It is the key to get out of fire-fighting mode and take back control of your calendar and your schedule.  

Next week I’m going to talk about the last wheel on the Design Roadmap Tricycle - your Design Budget.  Now that you have your design process  and schedule defined, it’s going to be so easy to create an accurate design budget, and I’ll walk you through how to do that step by step. 

PS - If you’d like help getting your design process and schedule done once and for all, you’re going to want to check out my upcoming Design Roadmap course.  We’ll work through the process of creating design schedules with actual examples from my own business.  Get on the waitlist to find out more here.