Another Monday morning.* I start the day (after coffee, of course) by going over the 50 or so emails I have received overnight. I check the junk folder, because every once in a while, an important email ends up there. It’s a good Monday, as I have two new project offers. 

I download the files and take a preliminary look at the plans. The projects fit into my schedule, so the customers are notified. The new projects get added to my schedule, estimating and on-screen takeoff programs.

Early in my career as an estimator, I attended a seminar that taught me a much better way to plan my days. My old method had been to lay out my entire week with what I thought were attainable goals. While that may sound good, I was very inflexible, and if something affected my schedule, I did not handle it well.

The seminar taught me to use the Day-Timer system, which focused on planning each day with all my long-term goals in mind. This system, and changes to my attitude, helped me become more flexible while dealing with the daily interruptions and other unplanned events estimators deal with every day. I still use this method, but have switched to digital organizing instead of paper.

Questions and postponements

After planning the day, I start my first task: finishing a small, one-day commercial estimate. Of course, as with most projects I work on these days, I have several unanswered questions by the time I’m done with the takeoff. 

The project will not be finished today. That is the first impact to my schedule. I do not, however, let it upset me. Instead, I send the questions to my customer and move on to the next project.

I spend the rest of the day working on a large wastewater project that is due this Thursday. At about 2 p.m., I receive an addendum for the project, which includes 30 replacement plan sheets, with no extension to the bid date. 

Old me, new me

At this point, the old me would be venting out loud about engineers and anyone else I thought might be responsible. The new me is still upset, but settles down quickly and reevaluates my schedule for the next two days. I am able to move a few scheduled items around to finish the project with the new plan sheets on time.

It’s Tuesday morning, and I have the answers I need to finish the small commercial project. I finish the project and send it to the customer. 

Just as I get started again on the wastewater project, I receive another addendum that postpones the project until Monday. I don’t get too upset because I was expecting the postponement, as it was ridiculous to expect us to process 30 plan sheets in two days. 

I have learned, however, to never count on a postponement. After rearranging my schedule again, I get started on an interesting office remodel project with high-end light fixtures I have never seen before. After finishing the fixture counts, it’s time to research these new fixtures, which turn out to be unique. They replace cross members in a grid (T-bar) ceiling and require a remote power supply and manufacturer-supplied interconnecting cables, which I might have missed if I did not do the research.

Flexibility and sacrifice

By Wednesday, I have almost finished the office project when I receive a call from a good customer. He has been offered a project that is his if he can get a price put together by Monday. I can’t tell him no, so my schedule is shot to pieces again. There is no way I am going to finish this remodel project and the wastewater project without working evenings and the weekend. 

The old me would have had a fit. The new me, while upset about losing my weekend, understands the sacrifice I sometimes need to make for a good customer. I start the new project right away so I can get fixture counts and questions to my customer ASAP.

The rest of the week is spent finishing the two projects. Wouldn’t you know, when Monday morning rolls back around, there’s an email waiting for me, postponing the wastewater project another week.

*This is a fictitious account of events similar to what happens in my schedule on a regular basis, which demonstrates the need to stay flexible and calm in the face of constant interruptions and schedule changes.

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