What does TIME mean for your architectural business?

Image courtesy: London Festival Architecture

"Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time." - Margaret Bonnano

Architects, across the globe are well-known as ‘all-nighters and especially for their bottled-formula of ‘last-minute work’, which they justify as an absolute need for ‘creativity’.
A creative design is a product of knowledge, experience and skill. Spending more time on design only indicates deficiency of these key elements. I strongly believe that giving more time doesn’t guarantee a better design.
Time continues the same for everyone. Although, different people have different perception of time and so they also have different reactions to the available time. But is time and its applications different for architects and designers? What is the reason that most architects struggle at managing their time? Maybe the solution rests somewhere between these two motions.

It is of no denial that time management is an important skill for designers as they need a high degree of efficiency and productivity to successfully finish the building project on time. Only on the other side, hardly any architectural school educates students about its importance. Most students are known for their ‘all-nighter syndrome’ which results in a last moment work and delays leading to an unhealthy lifestyle. Like old habits die hard, in professional life they also continue to work with same ‘time’ habits which makes them victims of ‘poor time management’.

Have you ever wondered, what does this poor time management mean to you and your business? From a business standpoint, the role of time management is to increase productivity and ultimately, profit. From an individual standpoint, its purpose is to spend less time on the things we have to do so that we will have more time to spend on the things we want to do. For you as an architect or a designer, it is even more important to understand and implement effective time management in your firm because if you cannot organize yourself and plan your own activities, how will you convince your clients that you are capable of planning their entire building project in time? 

There are many time management strategies. Each person selects those strategies that will work for him or her, and arranges them into a system. A system that is used by everyone in the firm. And the only time management scheme that will function perfectly for you which is developed by yourself or at least one that you adapt to your own demands.

Time and Tide wait for none.

So, think now and act now!

More interesting Articles on the subject:

Is Punctuality important for Architects?
How busy are we?
Design Studio: Top 10 things you should know
What is Time Management
A brief history of Time Management