How To Renovate

EP58 Renovation Burnout Is Real: How To Avoid It

• Tash South • Season 1 • Episode 58

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Renovating your home isn't just about floorplans, finishes, or finding the perfect team — as much as those are important, it's also about managing your energy and emotions. In this episode, I’m getting real about renovation burnout. 

It’s a challenge that rarely gets discussed in the renovation world, yet it affects many homeowners when their lives don't stop during major home transformations. 

So, let’s talk… inside, I’m covering what it is, how to spot it, and most importantly, how to sidestep it with some smart (and kind) planning. Renovating can be an emotional rollercoaster, from the highs of being granted planning permission to the lows of decision fatigue on-site. I’ll walk you through what to expect and share some practical tools and personal tips for decision batching and energy management. And why it’s okay to take strategic breaks during your build. 

Join me inside so you can learn to watch out for the burnout signs, and how with proper planning and awareness, you can create your dream home without sacrificing your wellbeing along the way.

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Hi I'm your host, Tash South I'm an Interior Designer and Renovation Consultant.
Each episode of How To Renovate is short, but brimming with practical advice to help you manage your renovation project with confidence and success.

Grab some more renovation advice & free resources and become part of the South Place Studio Renovation Community at
https://www.southplacestudio.com/freebies

Everything I teach about renovation falls within my Five Pillar Process for A Successful Renovation, to learn more about the process, head to
https://www.southplacestudio.com/pillars


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Tash South:

Hello, hello everybody, welcome. Welcome my lovely renovators to the how to Renovate podcast. It's Tash here and I hope you are having a wonderful week. This week's episode is titled Renovation Burnout is Real and how to Avoid it.

Tash South:

Now, I have been here before and I have seen a lot of people in the same place before. Now I don't think this gets talked about enough really in the renovation world because we're so focused on the budgets, the contractors, choosing the right people, the tile choices, the flooring, the colour of the paint. But really renovating can be pretty, pretty full on and it actually has an emotional toll which I have felt before, because life does not stop when you're renovating. In fact, sometimes life, just to be a little rude, ramps it up when you're renovating. Life just to be a little rude, ramps it up when you're renovating. I mean, I have been pregnant through two of our most major renovations we've done on our own homes, and so it's not always going exactly to plan. You may have still planned, which you know I'm all about, and it will definitely, definitely reduce the chance of your burnout, but life does not stop, and so your renovation could be planned to the T, but life will still come and chuck something else on top of the pile that you'll have to deal with, and so that then adds to the burden, the decisions, the feeling that you're just having to deal with quite a lot whilst you're going through this quite tough thing of having your home in disarray or not being in your own home, having it ripped out and having to deal with contractors and architects who you haven't ever have dealt with before. So yes, it can be really stressful and it is real. The stress of it is very real because, let's be honest, life can get in the way and even the most exciting, well-organized renovation can still leave you feeling a little overwhelmed. So let's get into the episode. I'd love to give you a few little tips to recognize that you're nearing the burnout and then also just how to deal with it and how to how to get through it best you can.

Tash South:

Let's get into the episode everybody. So, number one, let's talk about the emotional stages of renovation. So renovation truly is a roller coaster, but you know it does kind of follow a pattern which I've talked about before. It kind of starts off slow but exciting. You're in the planning stage, you're getting your vision together of you know what your dream home will look like your big dreams, your style boards, your plans everything feels fresh and full of potential and full of excitement. And then kind of it dips a little bit because you kind of go from that excitement then into the next phase where you're preparing, you're getting your planning drawings together, your architect's doing your drawings, you're waiting to see if you'll get planning approval.

Tash South:

So that stage can be kind of slow but also a little bit stressful, because you don't sometimes quite know what the outcome will be or what that process will throw back at you. It may be that your planning application gets rejected. It might be that you need to make major changes, which is not what you envisioned. It may be that you've annoyed some of the neighbours and they don't want you to do your project. Anything could come out of that stage. So your emotions are going high and then low and then high again, and so when you come out of that stage, so your emotions are going high and then low and then high again, and so when you come out of that phase and you've got your planning permission, you're ready to get started.

Tash South:

Then you go full throttle into on-site, where you're having to make decisions daily. You've got people in your home, everything feels chaotic and so know you want to really plan so well, which is what this whole podcast is about, and what all the content I create is about is about getting that planning really, really well so that when you come to the stage of being on site and everything goes crazy, you have made your decisions, you have thought about everything, you can deal with your contractors and your architects because you know that you have familiarized yourself with the process, with a sequence, with exactly what you want from your home, you've clearly laid out what you expect, and so I really want that that's part of the renovation to be a lot easier for you, because if you haven't done that, that is 10 times as hard that that part of the process, and so that is that kind of decision overload time, and then, if you've got life piling more things on top of that stage of your renovation, it really can feel overwhelming, and I find that that's where lots of people really burn out with it all. If they haven't prepped well and they haven't planned well. That is where it really can get out of hand in terms of, um, how emotional you feel about it, how overwhelming it can get, and so the choices pile up and you you hit walls with decisions and you start making mistakes, making the wrong decisions. They then cost money to put right. So that is that the kind of critical phase I find where renovation burnout really comes into play. So I just want you to be aware of that as you're going through this roller coaster of renovation. And then, of course, once you get to the end of that phase, things then calm down a little bit and you kind of going back down again, you've got all your kitchens in your bathrooms, in all the tiles are going up, everything's been decorated and you can see the end in sight. And then from then onwards, generally things are a lot smoother. You're then into the last pillar, which I call pillar five, perfecting. You're just getting all your documents together, getting everything signed off, making sure everything is ready and in place and ready for you to move in. So then things kind of go down a bit on the roller coaster.

Tash South:

So you can see how this, these kind of emotional stages, can really become quite stressful when you, when this is just an extra thing you're adding into your life and your work and everything else and your family life and everything else you're already doing and it takes a lot of bandwidth, and so this is always why I want you to try and be as prepared as possible for your renovation, because all of that work and time that you put in at the start, this is where it's going to pay off big time, and so just knowing this, I think just understanding these stages, is going to help you just normalize that, those emotional ups and downs as you're going through your renovation, so you know you're not failing, you're just human. This is just how they go, and I just would like you to be as prepared as possible so that you can go through it knowing what to expect, but also in a place where you've planned so well that, when life throws other things at you, you know that your renovation is under control, it's well planned, you have your decisions in mind and you can deal with everything on your plate just a little bit better. So let's move on to number two. The tools that I use to manage decision fatigue, which can then lead to this renovation burnout and stress, is the planning. It always is, and so I always say focus on the planning. And this is how, within your planning stage, just a few things, you can do to manage that decision fatigue so that it doesn't go it doesn't go beyond that, to that really high level of stress and burnout during your renovation, because if you are prepared, then things will be a lot easier, right? So just a few tips here is to, within the planning stage, really, really try and make as many of your decisions as you possibly can there, when it comes to layout, when it comes to style, when it comes to materials. Make your decisions there and don't overwhelm yourself, even at that stage, for every single decision that you need to make.

Tash South:

Narrow that down and batch your decisions as well. So if you're looking at the kitchen, let's say, try and make all the decisions for your kitchen in one session or in one section of decisions in one group of work. I should say so. If you're looking at tabs, choose three tabs you like. Don't choose seven. Choose three that you really love. Put those on your style board, put all of the details on there so that when it comes to making the final decision, you can narrow that down to one, plus an option if that one is not available for any reason, and you can do that with almost every item you need to choose in your home. Narrow down your decisions really early on so that when you walk into a building site mid-project, and your builder and your plumber are there going, where are your tabs? You're not then having to go online or into a store and look at 100 different styles of tabs and choose. So this is a way you can do it with every single item in your home to just make that whole process easier for yourself.

Tash South:

And then, moving on to number three, we want to take breaks, but without stalling progress. So if you know this is coming and you'll know that because of this podcast, because of knowing the process of renovation or maybe some other content you've been listening to or reading so if you know this time is coming, this crazy, crazy time where everything's going to be asked of you, you're going to be making hundreds of decisions. You can plan for it right. So that also means that you can plan and know when a good time for those breaks are, so that break might be at a time when you just are feeling overwhelmed and you need to say to your contractor or your builder that you need to take just a short time. I never, ever, recommend taking a really long time during your project, but even if you could take a day or two just to kind of recalibrate, just to get get some calm back, just to double check all your decisions so that you can then go back stronger, rather than battling through in a state of confusion or overwhelm and then making even more mistakes as you go along.

Tash South:

So you really want to get that last phase of the mid renovation right. That is where I see a lot of people making mistakes, and taking a little break doesn't always mean that everything has to stop just because you're not there for a day or two. There will be jobs that your contractor can carry on with. There's always a lot to do. They can carry on with things that decisions have already been made on, and you can just take a moment and just take a day or two so that you can avoid that renovation burnout.

Tash South:

You really need to think about your renovation. There's a bit of a marathon, not a sprint. I mean, you know that that sprint is going to be coming in the middle, but you really need to think about just spreading out the amount of of work and the amount of energy needed to get through the renovation. And something I always say here as well is and I think this works great for avoiding burnout, but it's actually to celebrate the milestones during your renovation, because there there are actually many. So I remember celebrating some milestones when we were building the house and every now and then it's just so lovely to just take a moment and actually see what you're creating and have a look around. You know, crack open a bottle of bubbly on a Tuesday night when the foundations have been laid, or on a Saturday after a tough week when finally your building is watertight. So take those moments to celebrate as well, because that's just going to make you appreciate the process more and then also just really look forward to your moving day.

Tash South:

So really look out for those signs that might be starting to appear that you're feeling a bit burnt out. Perhaps you're feeling a bit snappy or impatient or emotional. Perhaps you're struggling to make small decisions, or perhaps you're avoiding your site visits for some reason, or you don't want to talk to your builder that day. These are all little signs that you're probably approaching a point where you've you will feel like you've had enough and it's better to just recognize that. Take a day or two and then get back in the saddle, because really you don't want to make rushed choices, because those often lead to mistakes.

Tash South:

So take some time. Maybe revisit your style board, your mood boards, remind yourself. Go look at your floor plan again. Remind yourself what you're doing all of this work for and how it's going to be an amazing space to live in, how it's going to help you and your family just function a lot better as a family unit, provide opportunities for you to spend more time together. Provide opportunities for you to entertain more, see friends and family more in a much better space. So think about those things, think about the future and stay motivated and really be conscious of your energy and how you're spending it, especially in that mid-renovation when everything is just kind of getting to the peak of decision making and you're at that last stage where you can see the finish line in sight and you're starting to feel really exhausted.

Tash South:

That's usually when it hits, so just be really aware of it. But you know your dream home is in sight and you can get there. Just be really aware of it all. But I know you can get through it, especially because I'm here to help you. I've done this so many times before. I'm here to help you.

Tash South:

Everything I do is to help people like you get through your renovation, because I know renovations are tough, but life is also tough and they all seem to come at the same time. So if you need more help, just go check out our website, guys. I've got so much for you there. Go to selfplaystudiocom forward slash freebies. There's loads of resources there. I've got some masterclasses for you as well on my website, and also, as you probably know by now, I have my ultimate renovation course called Reniversity, which has got everything you need included to help you get to the end with a really successful renovation, because I truly, truly believe that meticulous planning is the most effective way to avoid delays and budget blowouts when you're working on your dream home and your dream renovation project. So do go and check those out.

Tash South:

Everything I do is to help you, and that beautifully brings us to the end of this episode. Everybody, I hope you have a fantastic week and I will see you next week in next week's episode. I look forward to it. I'll see you then. It's bye for now. For more information on my five pillar process for successful renovation, you can go directly to southplacestudiocom forward slash pillars, where you'll find an introduction to the process which covers each of the pillars and what they cover. Go now to southplacestudiocom forward slash freebies. I have created some amazing freebies for you there. There is one on the process, like we just said. There is one on planning permission, there is one on kitchen design, there is another one on lighting planning. Go and check those out. There's so much free information there to help you with your renovation.