The easiest part of a home improvement remodeling project is getting started. The ideas are fresh in your mind, the paint hasn’t even opened yet, and you have enough motivation to move mountains. You know, at least until lunchtime rolls around, and you realize you’ve ruined a favorite pair of jeans with lime green paint stains, and what you thought was a day job will now become three… or more. After letting remodeling sit for a while, how do you pick up those home improvement projects again with enough motivation to finish?

Home improvement in baby steps

My favorite piece of advice is to tell homeowners to underperform on their road to success. Sounds counterintuitive, I know, but setting small, ridiculously easy goals that you know you can accomplish every day can help build momentum. Take the painting project, for example.

Let’s say you’re trying to finish painting the main level of your home. You’ve finished the bathroom, but you still need to finish half of the living room and most of the kitchen. A small goal that you could accomplish every day would be to paint half a wall. In the time it takes most people to get to work (twenty or thirty minutes), you could easily cross that daily task off your list and feel good about making progress.

Old-fashioned home improvement

It is true that there are some projects that cannot be divided into such small parts, or that must be done in a day or a whole weekend. These projects are perfect for an older approach.

Have you ever seen a movie where a barn goes up? A pioneer farmer needs to build a new barn, so he invites his friends and neighbors to come and help get the job done. To sweeten the deal, there’s plenty of food and lots of fun after the project is over.

Maybe you have some friends or neighbors who are handy with a hammer. Put them in the idea of ​​helping you out for a few hours, in exchange for a great barbecue, pizza and beer, or sushi and sake, whatever your taste.

Home improvement with a modern twist

Sometimes a remodeling project is too big to coordinate or handle yourself. For them, there is a modern approach that is taking the world by storm: auctioning construction projects. As online auctions become more and more popular, those in the construction and home improvement industry are taking advantage of websites geared directly at them. With a few clicks, you can post your project and sit back while licensed professionals bid on it.

Home improvement remodeling projects don’t have to stay forever, nagging in the back of your mind. By thinking outside the box a bit, you can build the motivation needed to complete them.