It’s almost like you need a project manager just to get through the paperwork before you even start thinking about finishes or layouts.
Honestly, I’ve joked that the real “design phase” is just figuring out who needs which form and when. The number of times I’ve had to re-send the same site plan to three different departments... it’s wild. Color-coding spreadsheets is a solid move—I started using sticky notes, but my desk started looking like a kindergarten art project. There’s gotta be a better way, right?
Title: Why does buying land have to be so complicated?
I hear you on the sticky notes—mine started migrating onto my monitor, and at one point I had to peel off a permit checklist just to see my calendar. The paperwork maze is unreal. I once had a project where the city’s planning department wanted a different version of the site plan than the building department, and neither would accept the other’s format. Ended up making three versions of the same drawing just to keep everyone happy.
I tried using one of those project management apps, but honestly, it felt like trading one kind of chaos for another. Sometimes I think the real skill in this job isn’t design, it’s just keeping track of who needs what, when, and in what color ink. Maybe there’s some ultra-organized person out there who actually enjoys all this... but it’s definitely not me.