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As a web designer, is there any feeling worse than being creatively uninspired and not being able to complete or start your design projects? It’s frustrating, depressing, and costs us income.

Now imagine if there was a magical, surefire technique to make our creative block instantly disappear, giving us instant creativity and productivity.

That would be great, wouldn’t it? Well, too bad, because there’s no such thing. Designer’s block happens to all of us, and there’s no easy way out of it. However, if you feel you’re in a situation where you just feel unable to create, here are a few things you can try.

1. Start from the Inside Out

Every serious web designer will tell you that you start out your layout with a nice grid and do a few wireframes to see how the text flows through the boxes and columns. Then you settle on a color scheme and a design theme, and work towards the smaller details from there.

In other words, we’re taught to start from the big picture and work our way down to the details.

But we all know things don’t always (or, should I say, never) work out this way. Staring at a dull and empty grid all day is not helping you move forward an inch. Instead of inspirational site content that can give us ideas on what themes would work well with a company, the only text the client gives us to work with is "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" they copy-pasted from this ubiquitous site.

Why not break all the rules and start inside out? Design something as small as a form button or a "read more" link. Don’t worry about colors; you can always change them later. Or pick a palette from kuler or COLOURlovers, and make something that looks nice; something that gives you a glimpse of the website that should go around it.

Try designing a key detail first, and maybe the rest of the design will flow from it.

Dribbble, a site that features small parts of design projects, shows us that it’s possible to get inspired by small components of an entire design, even if we don’t get to see the big picture. You can make that principle work for you, and focus on the small stuff first.

2. Solve the Problems First

Sometimes there’s a very specific reason why you can’t find inspiration, and you just need to step back from browsing website galleries to find it. For example, maybe you can’t get inspired because your client hasn’t provided you with any content and you’re working off lorem ipsum text. Or maybe the client’s logo is so awful that you’re unable to design something decent around it.

In these cases, it’s best to acknowledge the problem and solve it first. A lot of the time, we want to see ourselves as design superheroes that can make anything look good. But there’s nothing wrong with admitting that the quality of our output depends on the quality of the input we get (also known as the garbage in, garbage out principle).

How would you design a website around this logo?

So if the content’s quality is poor or non-existent, request your client to hire web copy writers; and if their existing logo looks awful, bring their attention to that and offer them additional services if you are able to also provide professional logo/brand design services.

If you don’t deal with the real problem first, you run the risk of producing sub-par work, and the process will be very frustrating.

3. Code First, Design Later

In the complex process of designing a website, design usually comes before code. Things such as navigation menus or JavaScript effects are often done after a design has been finished. But If you’re stuck, on the first part (the design), it might be time to change that paradigm, even if just for when you’re experience design block.

Reverse the process by starting from code, and then designing for that code. This might seem unconventional, but one argument for it is that this method will ensure that form fits function, since function comes first in usable web designs.

Like solving a maze, design can sometimes be easier when you start from the end.

Some practical things you could do are:

• Designing in the browser, and only open Photoshop at a later stage
• Write jQuery scripts that you know you’ll be using or that will be main attractions of the design, such as slideshows
• Code the checkout form (don’t worry about style) and focus on user flow, information architecture, error validation, and so forth
• Developer your custom WordPress theme, start with template pages (archives.php, author.php, etc.)

4. Start from Design Elements

One of the most common ways of getting inspired is simply finding something cool to use in your design. A lot of designs start when a designer finds a beautiful new font, a special texture image, an interesting set of icons, or a new design technique they want to use. Again, this may sound counter-intuitive because the "right" way would be to find design elements that are suitable for your project, not the other way around.

Font choice can have a big impact on your design, and can also be a great source of inspiration.

But the truth is that we usually have a certain amount of freedom in our work, and we shouldn’t be afraid of following our gut instincts and going with the creative flow. Some of the best and most original designs happen when the creator is not afraid to follow his inspiration wherever it takes him.

So assemble a library of fonts, brushes, textures, and stock photos, and the next time you’re stuck, just take a look through all of them. This is one of the most effective ways of busting through designer’s block.  You can also check out one of my side projects, the Design Resources Search Engine, which lets you search through more than 150 design resources websites.

5. Think Outside the Box (Literally)

Most productivity/creativity guides will tell you that when you’re stuck, you should go look at pictures of sunsets and baby pandas on Flickr, or maybe go take a walk. While I love walking in the sunset hand in hand with baby pandas, I’ve found out the hard way that it does little for my productivity.

Instead, here’s some solid advice on something to look at: boxes.

Package design is a great place to get inspiration from. Packages have been around for centuries, and both the art and the science of packaging are years ahead of web design. Any cereal carton is competing with 50 other packages for the shopper’s attention, so you know that no detail, no matter how small, has been left to chance.

Blogs like The Dieline have tons of great packaging examples.

So take a walk around your local supermarket, or maybe just browse these excellent sites, blogs, and blog posts:

• The Dieline
• The American Package Museum
• Lovely Package
• Packaging of the World
• Packaging Design (Creattica)
• Beautiful and Expressive Packaging Design (Smashing Magazine)
• 50 Beautiful and Effective Package Designs (Webdesigner Depot)
• Packaging design inspiration (Dzine Blog)

6. Copy (But Don’t Steal!)

Now before you start writing a letter to your lawyer, let me make one thing very clear: I’m not advocating plagiarism at all. The key here is to understand what you are copying. Just copying isn’t enough; if you want to be successful, you need to analyze the small details that make things work.

Don’t copy and paste, zoom down to pixel level to learn from the best.

Let’s say you want to copy a shiny, "Web 2.0" button (although I don’t suggest adding one more of these to the millions already in existence). Take a screenshot of the page, import it in Photoshop, then draw a blank rectangle and try to approximate the gradients, glow, and shadow used until you get the right look. Experiment with these parameters and your new button will have kept the original look and feel while looking nothing like the source. Recreate the principles that make something look the way it does, rather than the thing itself. Study the techniques, and you can learn something from your peers; or maybe even make it better than the original.

7. Switch to Another Project

Sometimes, no matter how hard you work on something, it just doesn’t click. This is the time when you should take a break and start something else.

This is the essence of structured procrastination: using that feeling of not wanting to do something as motivation to accomplish something else. And sometimes, the boost from accomplishing that second thing will even be enough to motivate you to do the original task!

8. Do Something That Makes You Feel Good

I promised I wouldn’t get into the new age, touchy-feely stuff in this article, but I have to mention this: Your frame of mind has a significant impact on your creativity.

A sunny white sand beach… can you get any more cliché than this? I challenge you to find a cheesier stock photo than this one.

If you’re in a bad mood, go play sports, cook, watch a kung fu movie — anything that makes you happy. The risk here is that you might get more distracted instead of more focused, so I would only advise this as a last resort.

9. Get Feedback

This piece of advice doesn’t really apply to those cases where you’re starring at a blank screen. But if you find yourself stuck at a later stage in the design process, ask someone else what they think about the current state of the design. No matter what they say, it will help you move forward.

If they like it, use that positive feedback as motivation and as a sign that you’re going in the right direction.

If they hate it, ask them why. Welcome the criticism and use it to improve your work. Sometimes spending just 10 minutes fixing a key detail is enough to create a completely different impression and change somebody’s mind about the design.

10. Start Over

One of the biggest pitfalls of designers is that sometimes we become too attached and emotional when it comes to our designs.

Sometimes starting out fresh and feeling complete freedom for a few minutes is all you need to get unstuck, and you’ll find that you’re even able to use some or all of the work you’ve already done, whether it’s in this project or the next. So don’t be afraid to press Ctrl + N (or Command + N) and start anew. You can always go back to your previous design if the new one doesn’t move you forward — so what do you have to lose?

Related Content

• How to Create Creativity
• Feedback. The Creativity Killer.
• 6 Reasons Why You Should Do Personal Design Projects
• Related categories: Project Management and Web Design

About the Author

Sacha Greif is a web designer from Paris, France who specializes in user interfaces and theme design. Visit his personal site at sachagreif.com. He blogs about design at AttackOfDesign.com and his latest WordPress portfolio theme is Silverio. Follow him on Twitter: @SachaGreif

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The introduction of Facebook, Twitter and the like has opened up a whole new world of social interaction and distraction. Suddenly, we can be connected to friends, family and colleagues with the click of a button. Instantly, we can discover what our friend had for dinner or whether their day was a good one or a bad one. Social networking has transformed the way we communicate; there is no denying we live in a permanently connected world.

But can social networking be a bit of a double-edged sword?

As much as it can open our world and succeed in connecting us with ease, it can also be a huge distraction. Its addictive qualities can swallow up hours of our valuable time, and waste companies billions of dollars^[1].

The surge in popularity of smart phones that allow us to access the web has meant we carry our entire social networking world in our very pocket, giving us more reason to stay connected. As well as a balanced argument about the prickly subject of social networking in the workplace, we’ve come up with some pointers to help you decipher when to cut back on your social networking usage.

The Pros of Staying Connected

Why does it seem everybody’s got a problem with social networking sites? What’s the harm in staying connected to the people we care about? Social networking sites can not only be fun, it can also be lucrative if it opens up your business to additional revenue streams and clientele. Often, the virtual world is our oyster.

Here are a few advantages of being constantly connected to social networks.

We Need a Break Every Now and Then

Humans weren’t designed to focus on one task consistently, and in order for creativity to flourish, we need breaks in order to see a new project with a fresh approach. A study by The University of Melbourne showed that those who visited websites of interest actually had improved concentration, boosting productivity by 9%.

Improve Income and Loyalty of Customers

A study by Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business regarding Facebook Pages conducted on a retail business in Houston, Texas found that customers spent an additional 45% in the store, increased customer loyalty 41%, and trafficked the store up to 36% more after they decided to use the social networking site. This study shows that using social networking services can have potential benefits for a company.

Save Time Keeping Up with News

Instead of ringing around our friends to double check when an event is still on or whether your friend has indeed split up with their partner, all you need to do is log into Facebook and you’ve saved yourself time and energy, and bagged a bit of gossip, too.

Open Up New Opportunities

Social networking sites can act as your own personal marketing spokesperson. We are told constantly to sell ourselves in job interviews, and our profiles can often do all the hard work for us.

Companies can set up social networking profiles or update their customers via Twitter, all the while building contacts and leads.

Distraction is Commonplace in the Workplace Already

Email, water cooler chats and mobile phones pose particular productivity threats to employees the world over. Relative to other distractions, is the use of social networking services really that bad? Workplace distraction is nothing new and there is a long list of things we, as employees, have to contend with, with some being more harmful to productivity than others.

The Cons of Staying Connected

Social networking sites are known to have addictive traits that can drain valuable time and money and become a persistent distraction, endangering the productivity of workers. So what’s the damage they can wreak?

Security Threats to IT

A study by Sophos published this year reported a 70% rise in the number of organizations experiencing spam and malware attacks via social networks in 2009. The same study expressed that 72% of businesses are of the mindset that employee behavior in social networks could endanger their business security.

Social Networks Can Lead to Financial Losses

A study by Nucleus Research revealed the use of Facebook alone shaves 1.5% of office productivity. IT consultancy company, Morse, evaluated this productivity loss could cost businesses $2.2 billion a year.

Lost Opportunities

Much has been said about the rise of companies checking out prospective employees by viewing their social networking profiles. They say a picture tells a thousand words: One dodgy photo and an opportunity to be hired by that company you have been dying to work for can be lost. We need to be careful about what we post on the web: An employee posted a comment on Facebook saying her job was boring and was shown the door shortly after.

Tips to Boost Productivity

Although social networking sites can indeed open doors, it can be difficult to know when to draw the line, especially if your job involves marketing and networking through Facebook or Twitter.

Here are our top tips to keep you focused and help you take charge of your work-life.

Establish a Daily Routine and Work Schedule

A daily routine is essential to staying pro-active. It helps us organize a healthy lifestyle and can ease distractions in the workplace. Coordinating a work schedule which clearly shows guidelines involving when to start work, when to take breaks and when we should be finishing work helps put boundaries down, putting emphasis and value on our time.

A structure also keeps us focused and less likely to stray off track. Try to stick to a good amount of working hours; 7-9 hours, 5 days a week is usually a good amount of time and creates a healthy structure to our week.

Make To-Do Lists

To-do lists can ensure you stay on top of all of your work commitments. They also help you get to grips with everything you want to achieve in that day. The best way is to put the most important tasks at the top of the list and make sure they are all crossed off at the end of the day. You can make them and stick them to your fridge or plaster a Post-it note on your computer. You can even use a web-based service so that you have ready-access to your to-do list anytime, anywhere; Gmail, for example, has a simple built-in task list feature that integrates with other Google services.

Limit Your Technology Distractions

Workers who constantly check their emails, social networks, and phones are setting themselves up for continual distractions. An email newsletter, a text message from a friend, a link sent by a colleague through a Facebook update — these activities cause distractions, and if you don’t keep them in check, they can take up a significant portion of your workday.

If you allocate timeslots throughout the day for checking emails, social networking feeds, and phone calls, you are less likely to stumble upon distractions.

Take Regular Breaks

Breaks are essential to keeping a positive mood and in turn, can boost our concentration. Taking a break means getting away from your computer, so trade that sneaky look at Facebook with a lap around the office building. Getting outside your home or office for at least half an hour each day will improve your productivity in the long run.

Make the Most of Your Free Time

On the days that you are less busy, take the initiative and stay productive. Rather than slipping into the constant distractions of tweeting and Facebook updating, involve yourself in admin tasks, catch up on reorganization that you let go because of being short on time, and see if work you have finished can be served from being looked over and refined.

And when you do have leisure time off, use your time wisely.

Conclusion

By all means, indulge in social networking endeavors, but put limits on the length of time you use them. Make sure you devote your time to things that make you happy and relaxed including (non-virtual) social interaction, resting and hobbies. This will all prevent you from falling prey to social networking addiction.

References

1. Facebook and other social media cost UK billions. reuters.com.

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• Spying On Competition Using Social Media
• 10 Google Chrome Extensions for Boosting Your Productivity
• Make the Most Out of Social Media
• Related categories: Productivity and Project Management

About the Author

Kip Keilty writes for BroadbandCompare.com.au, a comparison site to find plans from a range of broadband providers in Australia.

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Productivity and efficiency are important to our work life. We want to be able to produce things well in as little time as possible. We also want to reduce things that detract us from reaching a task’s completion. We need to try to avoid making mistakes, reduce our stress sources and, in general, manage our contentment in order to maintain our ability to get stuff done well and on time.

This article discusses a handful of interesting ideas for improving productivity and efficiency.

Remove the Negatives

One assumption many people make is that eliminating negative aspects in our work environment is the direct opposite of fostering and incubating the positives. In other words, by focusing on the positive, we are able to directly compensate for any negative aspects. This is not true.

In reality, you need to perform a whole range of activities for eliminating the negatives that would be completely different if you focused on the positives.

For example, to eliminate negative aspects within a team, you may have to start dealing with troublesome and poor-attitude workers, and focus more on getting rid of any obstacles that hinders you from completing your work.

Focusing on the positive aspects in a team may involve helping people discover their talents, working on what they’re good at, or praising them if they’ve done a good job.

Now, the question is, what should you do? Should you focus on removing negative aspects in the team or should you, instead, try to compensate for them by focusing and improving on the positive things?

There is research that shows that eliminating negative things is more fruitful than focusing on fostering the positive things. (Also, see this article on Fast Company.)

In the study, negative events influenced employees 5 times more than positive events. Going by simple logic, if 1 negative event happens, 5 positive events will be needed to offset the impact of that 1 negative event.

Happy people are more productive people. The less stress and negativity there is, the more productive and efficient we become. This can be true in teams or in individual workers.

One good way to reduce negative situations, at least in teams, is to apply the no asshole rule. This rule, written by Professor Robert Sutton at Stanford University, is all about telling new hires before they start working that if they plan to be an asshole, they’ll be fired straight away. Very simple, yet very effective.

Kill Good Ideas, Not Just Bad Ones

If an idea is good, it must be done straight away, right? No.

Why not? Because if you have many good ideas, it also means you won’t complete most of them and your attention will be spread thin. Having a lot of good ideas means that you won’t have enough time and resources to commit to any one idea to succeed.

This wisdom originally came from Steve Jobs, who was said to have advised a company’s senior team that killing a bad idea is easy, but killing good ones is tough and a "hallmark of great companies."

In order to be productive, narrow down your objectives. It’s better to focus on one idea at a time so that you can produce and execute something great rather than a bunch of things that are poorly executed.

When we reduce the amount of good ideas we need to work on, we shift the benchmark of our productivity and efficiency towards quality as opposed to quantity.

Be Aware of Cognitive Biases

This idea comes from psychologist Daniel Kahneman who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in economic sciences for demonstrating the irrationality of people when it comes to making crucial decisions. Recent neuroscience studies are also telling us that we can’t make optimal decisions in very complex environments.

We’re victims of cognitive biases, which is "the human tendency to make systematic errors in certain circumstances based on cognitive factors rather than evidence." In essence, we’ve developed these judgmental biases based on personal memory, events, and behaviors that our mind subconsciously uses to make quick shortcuts to decision-making.

What does this have to do with productivity? Flaws in decision-making can affect our productivity in terms of having to do things over, being more stressed, choosing the wrong option that leads to increased costs in time and resources, and so on.

Kahneman wrote an article that describes optimism bias and the things we can do to avoid it.

Let’s say, for example, that you have a project and you need to determine a deadline for it. According to the optimism bias, you will tend to be over-optimistic about the deadline and think you’ll get that project done a lot sooner than you actually will in reality.

A good way to avoid this bias is to consider the outside perspective; that is, seeing how much time it took others to get a similar project done. Or if you’ve done that kind of project in the past, use your previous experience as a reference point. For example, if your previous project took 4 weeks to get done, setting up the deadline for 2 weeks might be unrealistic and challenging.

Making sound decisions and being realistic with our capabilities lead to better productivity by ensuring that we avoid costly mistakes and stress due to impractical objectives.

Forget Luck and Weaknesses and Focus on Developing Your Talents

Another idea to keep in mind when trying to enhance your productivity and efficiency is differentiating skill from luck. Humans are not very good at determining how much of something they do is skill and how much is luck. Nobody can blame us; we live in a complex environment and we don’t know all the variables that determine a particular outcome.

To determine if an activity is based on luck or skill, ask yourself: Can I lose on purpose?

In roulette, you can’t lose on purpose. Roulette is 100% luck. In poker, you can sometimes lose on purpose; poker is a combination of skill and luck. In chess, it’s mostly about skill so you can lose on purpose whenever you want.

Sorting skill from luck is important in productivity. Focus on skill and talent enhancement and on things that are within your control instead of spreading yourself thin by trying to reduce the effects of luck, weaknesses, and uncontrollable factors. This is called Strengths-Based Development for improving performance. When we focus on our talents, we are 6 more times engaged with our job, which in turn leads to productivity, retention, and more positive and creative moments^[1].

References

1. Strengths-Based Development: Using Strengths to Accelerate Performance. gallup.com.

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About the Author

Brad is from Croatia and is currently writing for Findermind, a people search help website. His latest article, titled 25 Free People Search Engines to Find Anyone deals with the best free people search resources on the web. You can find him on Twitter as well.

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Have you ever wanted to get your work done while overlooking a beautiful park, a breathtaking sunset, the calming sea, sitting in an aromatic cafe, or simply while on the train but going to somewhere you actually want to go (i.e. not to the office)?

It’s possible if you set up an effective mobile office.

I’m just your average guy — I don’t have any special privileges in life. But I’ve been able to make electronic music, write for web publications, and do business and freelance work all on my laptop during beautiful train rides, breezy ocean sunsets, and in cool city spots.

And you can as well.

Now, before you say, "Psh, it’s not possible because of [insert reason here]," yes, a mobile office isn’t possible for everyone. There are a couple of requirements for being able to work from a mobile office:

1. You need your work to be primarily computer-based (but that’s most of us these days) and not work that is reliant primarily on non-movable equipment (like, say, factory equipment).
2. You need to either have a flexible work-location arrangement with your job (i.e. you’re allowed to telecommute), be a freelancer, or own your own business. In essence, you need the ability to dictate where and when you work.

Are you able to do those two things? Yeah? Awesome. Keep reading, because your work life is about to get a whole lot better.

Reasons Why You Want a Mobile Office

Here are some reasons why you would want a mobile office.

Less of the Suffocating "Office Time"

You won’t feel pent up in the same ol’ cubicle, day after day. All the while, you’re going to be getting the same work done but even quicker, because you have…

More Flexibility

Having a mobile office frees you up to work whenever and wherever you want. Now, that doesn’t mean you can be lazy and not do any work when you don’t feel like it, just that you’re not bound to a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday schedule.

If you want to go on a hike on a Wednesday afternoon, you can do that.

On the flip side — and this is the main point — you can work when you want as well. Not a morning person? Sleep in late and work at night. Early riser? Get your work done before lunch time.

Autonomy Results in Productivity

Studies show that people who work from home get work done more effectively — either faster, of higher quality, or of more quantity.

A Penn State study done by Dr. Ravi S. Gajendran and Dr. David A. Harrison suggests that telecommuting has a positive impact towards productivity because workers are able to control their schedule more.

"Our results show that telecommuting has an overall beneficial effect because the arrangement provides employees with more control over how they do their work," the researchers said. "Autonomy is a major factor in worker satisfaction and this rings true in our analysis. We found that telecommuters reported more job satisfaction, less motivation to leave the company, less stress, improved work-family balance, and higher performance ratings by supervisors."

With a mobile office, in addition to getting work done whenever you want, you can also do your work wherever you want. Have pockets of inspiration throughout the day? Bam, get some quality work done in a 30-minute chunk. Or not. It’s up to you, and the freedom you get from a mobile office offers you that sort of power towards dictating your work style and schedule.

Constant Supply of Fresh Inspiration

With a mobile office, you can get a constant change of surroundings. New sights, new sounds, new smells — all of this breeds inspiration into your work.

It’s that stimulation of senses. Sameness is boring; change is exciting and energizing. Even if it’s only rotating between a few spots, that’s more stimulation (and thus inspiration) than if you stayed put all day, every day.

Ingredients for an Effective Mobile Office

Okay, so are you convinced and excited to set up your mobile office and start using it? Awesome.

Here are five things that you need in order to have an effective mobile office:

1. A laptop (or equivalent mobile computer)
2. Mobile internet access
3. Headphones
4. Digital equivalents of physical necessities
5. A really, really comfortable bag

A Laptop

This is a no-brainer, but I’m mentioning it just in case someone asks "how the heck am I gonna move my desktop computer from my office around with me?"

Your computer must be mobile. This may mean a compromise in terms of power and resources versus your desktop computer, but I think for most people, that’s a negligible tradeoff for the benefit of not being tied down to one spot.

Mobile Internet Access

This is easy to have because of the increasing number of free WiFi hotspots available around your city, state, and country.

Additionally, you can also get a mobile WiFi hotspot using a monthly data plan if you need to have your internet needs covered at all times.

Headphones

You’ll need a solid pair of headphones for music while you work, for Skype calls, and for cancelling the noise while you work.

Earphones that come with your MP3 player are fine. Good headphones or earphones are even better. If you can afford it, noise-reducing in-ear earphones are best.

Why are earphones the best? Their noise reduction functionality means less distractions and being able to play music at a lower volume, which in turn protects your ears from constant exposure to high volumes of sound.

Earphones (left) are better than headphones (right) simply because they are more compact.

Why earphones over headphones? Smaller size for easier packing. Tossing in a tiny case is preferable. Trust me: stuffing big headphones into your bag gets old. Even if headphones are more comfortable, I can’t go back to those giants eating up so much of my backpack space.

Digital Equivalents of Physical Necessities

Always look for software and web services to replace your hardware.

Basically, you want to lug around as few things as possible. That’ll increase the chances you’ll actually use your mobile office, since your setup will be very grab-n-go.

For example, instead of carrying a detachable hard drive (even though there are ultra-portable ones available in the market) use an online storage service like Dropbox.

A Really, Really Comfortable Bag

A bag that looks good on you and that you wouldn’t mind having on you for large portions of the day is a good investment. This is the equivalent of having a super-comfortable chair for your stationary office.

Why does having a comfortable bag matter? Because if you dread something as simple as strapping on that heavy and uncomfortable bag, you won’t feel inspired to go out and use your mobile office.

Useful Online Tools for Your Mobile Office

Here are a few web services you can avail of to complement your mobile office.

Dropbox

Dropbox is great for file-sharing, collaborating, and automated backup of your work (no need to carry around external hard drives or USB thumb drives).

Freshbooks

Freshbooks is wonderful for near-effortless electronic or paper invoices. No printing or postage needed on your end; they’ll handle all that for you if you need to send out a paper invoice.

Basecamp or Google Docs

A simple project management tool like Basecamp (or even a web-based office suite like Google Docs) can be valuable for collaboration, tracking milestones and deadlines, and file-sharing.

These three web services are all you really need to get most of your job done (80-20 principle and reductionism applied to software use and dependence).

The best part? All of these have free basic accounts, so you can start using them right now with no excuses or money up front.

Avoidable Traps to Watch Out For

Watch out for these three signs that will keep you tied down and not using your mobile office. These problems are all easily avoidable.

Superfluous Accessories

Replace your physical devices with online equivalents that work offline when internet access isn’t accessible. For example, using Dropbox will allow you to work on local files that will be synced automatically when you get online. Otherwise, you won’t feel like lugging around a bunch of stuff and will feel more inclined to stay put.

Though technically portable, big mobile devices can be cumbersome.

Reduce as much hardware as you can. For example, even if there are iPod nanos that are super tiny, it’s one additional thing you need to worry about (Did I remember to pack it? Did I lose my iPod nano? Where’s my iPod nano?). If you can, store your music in your laptop.

Short Battery Life

The longer your laptop’s battery life is, the less you have to worry about your laptop running out of juice. Extend your computer’s battery life however way you can. Either have battery life be the primary factor if you’re shopping for a new laptop, or consider buying an extra battery for your existing one.

No Power Outlets or They’re too Far Away

If for whatever reason it’s not possible for you to have long-lasting battery life or if you want a backup to your battery, get an extension cord, an outlet multiplier, or an extension cord with multiple outlets at one end.

That way, you can reach any outlet no matter how far or filled up your location is. Too far away? An extension cord solves that problem. Outlets all used up? Ask someone if it’s okay for you to plug your multiplier/extension cord into one outlet.

Setting Up an Effective Mobile Office is Easy

Assuming your work arrangement allows you to work wherever you want: are you ready to take advantage of an effective mobile office? The benefits of having a mobile office are that you’ll have less of the suffocating "office time," more flexibility, and a constant supply of fresh inspiration.

To recap: In order to set up and start using your effective mobile office, you’ll need:

1. A laptop (or equivalent mobile computer)
2. Mobile internet access
3. Headphones
4. Digital equivalents of physical necessities
5. A really, really comfortable bag

With these five ingredients, you’ll be well on your way to using your mobile office to do your work anytime and anywhere you want.

Now go out there and start using your mobile office.

Do you have a mobile office? What are some of the coolest, most inspiring places you’ve done great work?

Related Content

• 10 Useful Gadgets for Mobile Computing
• The Remote Designer: How to Work While on the Road
• A Quick Look at Mobile Web Designs
• Related categories: Project Management and Productivity

About the Author

Oleg Mokhov is the world’s most mobile electronic musician and co-founder of the royalty free music store Soundtrackster. He was born in Russia, but raised in the US. Follow him on Twitter as @olegmokhov.

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Few freelancers work according to the standard eight-hour daily schedule. With remote working opportunities available to almost every designer and home-based offices now a common occurrence, it’s even more difficult to find a designer working to the traditional work schedule than it is to find one enjoying a work style that’s based on nothing more than their own preferences.

Experts call it the blurring of work and life, claiming that technology is responsible for integrating work so firmly in our time.

I think it’s more than that — the result of work schedules that aren’t built around output, but hours spent in the office and projects that simply follow us everywhere. As much as a flexible schedule can be a blessing, it’s an absolute curse when it interferes with our free time.

These nine strategies won’t bring you closer to your work; they won’t allow you to check your email from the top of a mountain, and they’re even less likely to help you manage the office from another country. They’ll help you do the opposite: enjoy your time not spent working, create a schedule that doesn’t stick you with endless freelance projects, and design a workweek that puts you in control of your freelance design efforts.

1. Use Time Management Apps

It’s impossible to reduce your work hours without a solid understanding of where they’re going. An all-night design and development session may lead to output and results, but it’s utterly valueless as a piece of data without an understanding of what you spend it doing.

Applications like RescueTime let you track your work hours, giving you an understanding of when you work and what you do.

I like RescueTime for tracking hours and applications and websites I use while being productive — it gives a simple breakdown of the applications that cost you the most time, allowing you to work out which are best blocked.

Other useful tools include E.gg Timer and Kukuklok — a simple stopwatch application, and a basic clock for alerting you to finished time blocks and deadlines.

Measure and manage — it’s that simple.

2. Invest in an Office Space

Smart freelancers rarely think of their expenses as wasted money — they think of any spending as an investment in greater productivity, greater visibility, or greater output.

Whether it’s money spent on advertising or the latest software, the goal is the same: improving an aspect of their business which would otherwise sit stagnant.

Your goal in improving productivity isn’t saving money, but earning more of it. Serviced offices are like any other business investment — they’re worthwhile when they lead to an increase in output and income.

Monitor your average workday output across different workspaces and ensure that you’re always in the best one — it might be worth spending money to reduce distractions.

It doesn’t even have to be an office outside of home; you can invest in more equipment or even remodeling work in your home office to make it more conducive to your personal productivity.

3. Remind Yourself to Work While in the Office

Lifehack.org published a guide to home office productivity just over two years ago. While slightly outdated and a little debatable — not all people work better with music, for example — it’s a solid list of ways to improve your productivity at home.

Anti-productive distractions and time-wasters are much more common at home, and sometimes it just takes a small change in habits to eliminate them.

But the most important tactic seems to have been missed: remind yourself to work. Some freelancers suggest taping a reminder to the top of your computer screen, while others insist that it’s an internal decision.

Whichever strategy you use to remind yourself of looming work deadlines, ensure that it’s something you repeat to yourself whenever distractions begin to appear.

4. Create a Support Team

Sometimes work becomes too much. You’re stressed out, lacking any motivation to continue with your projects, and thoroughly in need of a vacation. After emailing your major clients and letting them know that you’ll be unavailable, you get a last-minute message from someone you’ve worked with before: there’s a task to do, and they need you to complete it straight away.

These situations appear constantly while away from the office, and they’re a sure-fire way to begin worrying about the strength of your connections with clients.

Instead of panicking, create a network of other freelancers that can step up and help you in these situations. A quick email to your network can help you preserve client connections, even when out of the office.

5. Take Vacations Regularly

Who says you need a decades-long career to take a sabbatical? Freelancers are in a unique position — not only do they have more freedom than other designers, they’re able to spend time reflecting on their business and working out exactly how they can improve it.

I think regular breaks is an essential addition to any freelancer’s business strategy — observing how you work may give you new perspectives on how to improve it.

After your next major project, take a month off to work out how you can make your business less of a liability on your personal time.

It often takes less than a week of reflection to realize that what you have now isn’t something that can last for decades. Whether it’s time to develop a new revenue stream or simply a reason to change your approach to clients, a sabbatical can improve your focus.

6. Monitor Your Output

It’s one thing to examine the time you spend working, and another to actively work on improving the way you complete tasks. Tools like RescueTime and E.gg Timer allow you to effectively track hours spent working and applications worked in, but they don’t allow you to record how much of that time lead to real output and measurable results.

Record work sessions using two metrics: time spend versus output. Tracking hours alone will lead you to confuse time spent working and the results of that work, while measuring output alone can lead to hours spend working at a dizzying pace. Record both and you’ll gain an understanding of how you are most effective — something that’s essential for cutting out non-essential work.

7. Practice the Art of Technology Minimization

Next time you’re experiencing a state of productivity that can only be described as "anti-Zen," ask yourself how you would fare with no technology. Obviously, your computer would remain if you need it to do your work, although it would be almost completely on its own — no internet connection (unless you need it), smartphone, or instant messaging tools would keep it company.

As catastrophic as that situation might seem, it’s rarely one that’s unproductive. The biggest problem for digital workers isn’t a lack of technology or a limit to its ability, but a dilemma caused by having access to too much technology.

Sometimes all it takes to become productive is switching your router off and working without the Internet.

8. Automate Your Tasks

There are two types of activities for freelancers: critical activities and non-essential, but somewhat important activities. The first includes major projects and work related to looming deadlines, while the second includes personal finance changes, long-term billing, and replying to email. The first type of activity is more important, but which one do you think costs freelance workers the most time?

Lifehacker, a productivity blog, has attempted to fight back against "crutch" activities for years, going so far as to create a complete checklist of activities that just aren’t that important, yet tend to cost a lot of time.

The most common choices for eliminating wasted time are automation or elimination.

Make the choice to cut out certain "busywork" activities entirely, or at least automate them to free up more time in your schedule.

9. Be Realistic with Your Work Load

A lot of freelancers are constantly searching for more clients, all under the guise that more business will inevitably lead to more income, more freedom, and more success.

There’s no inherent advantage to managing more clients — only a large amount of disadvantages for your work-life balance.

The most important metric for any freelancer isn’t the amount of clients you manage or the quantity of projects that you can take on, but their potential to generate income.

Expand your business and it will end up requiring more input from you, all for an output that may not scale with growth.

There’s nothing wrong with staying small, especially if it results in a more manageable client base.

Related Content

• 10 Google Chrome Extensions for Boosting Your Productivity
• A Beginner’s Guide to the Business Side of Freelancing
• 8 Ways to Promote Your Work Through Internet Collaboration
• Related categories: Productivity and Project Management

Mathew Carpenter is an 18-year-old-business owner and entrepreneur from Sydney, Australia. Mathew is currently working on Sofa Moolah, a website that teaches you how to make money online. Follow Mathew on Twitter: @matcarpenter. Follow Sofa Moolah on Twitter: @SofaMoolah.

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Did you know that becoming a designer is relatively easy? You go to school (some people even skip that part), you interview for a job or start your own freelancing business, and then you start getting paid in exchange for making stuff look cool.

That’s about it.

Or is it?

Becoming a great designer — like becoming great at anything — takes a lot of practice, hard work and dedication. Maybe you are a student wondering if a design major or minor is the right way to go. Or maybe you are already a designer but you’re wondering whether a career as a designer is really right for you.

If you get through reading this article and find a couple reasons why you shouldn’t be a designer, it’s probably no big deal. If, on the other hand, you find that the huge number of these reasons apply to you, you may want to re-think design as a career.

1. You’re Not Artistic

I know this seems like a no-brainer, but it’s worth discussing. Some people have the mentality that designers and artists fall into two completely different, only vaguely related categories.

In reality, that type of thinking couldn’t be farther from the truth. Designers are artists — or at least they should be. Just because so much of what designers do these days takes place on a computer doesn’t mean there is no art involved in the modern day design process.

Many of the best logo and website designs start as sketches on a blank piece of paper. If you take the time to notice, you will see that many of the software applications designers use take cues directly from the art world. For instance, Photoshop and Illustrator — industry-standard software in the design field — both have painting-inspired features and vocabularies.

2. You Don’t Have Passion for Design

To be a great designer, you’ve got to have passion for creating things. Having passion is more than just liking or tolerating something. Passion pulls you in full-throttle, and makes you thirsty for more.

If you aren’t incredibly passionate about becoming a designer, don’t become one.

Burnout is a big obstacle for many designers; just wait until you’ve been working on the same type of project for months on end. That’s when you start to feel burned out and that’s when your passion will fuel you to push forward.

3. You’re Easily Distracted and Have a Hard Time Meeting Deadlines

Design requires the ability to focus, oftentimes for long periods at a time. It’s not to say that people with ADHD can’t be good designers as many believe that individuals with ADHD can hyperfocus on things they’re interested about — which is a big plus.

Are you planning on working for a local advertising agency? Ask yourself if you can sit through the time required to tediously and meticulously add realistic shading, remove skin blemishes, tweak typography and play with color combinations on an ad piece or a poster design until you reach pixel-perfection, sometimes over a weekend to meet a deadline.

Don’t get me wrong, design isn’t all work and no play, but there are times when you’ll need to concentrate hard on finishing a task for an extended period of time.

4. You’re Not a Good Communicator

How well do you get along with people? Do you work well in groups? If these questions sound familiar, you must have applied for a job sometime in the last few years. Business owners are putting a premium on communication skills these days, and it’s really no different for designers.

There are times when you’ll be working solo, but there will also be times when you’ll need to collaborate, take orders, give orders, and so forth.

When I say you need to be a good communicator to be a good designer, I’m not talking solely about being able to effectively talk to clients and people you collaborate with. I’m also talking about the medium of the work itself. After all, design is essentially a form of communication — the only difference is that design is visual instead of verbal.

5. You Don’t Respond Well to Criticism

When someone tells you there is room for improvement, do you feel the urge to punch them in the face? Criticism — and the ability to incorporate insights gleaned through critiques of your work into your projects to make them better — is an everyday part in design.

Obviously, you can’t go around punching people in the face all day, so do you have what it takes to understand the role that criticism plays in design? Nobody likes to be told their ideas are no good, but sometimes it’s not worth arguing.

If you are a freelancer, for example, your client (who is not a designer) may want to make some changes that don’t work well, or give you some harsh (even if inaccurate) criticisms. It’s best to roll with the punches so you can get paid for that project.

Alternatively, if you work as an in-house designer, your superiors are probably going to be standing over your shoulder telling you what works and what doesn’t (even if you don’t agree). It will take time to work your way up the ladder until you are the one who calls the shots — in the meantime, can you take the heat?

6. You’re Bad at Brainstorming

Designers need brainstorms like koalas need eucalyptus — without the ability to brainstorm effectively, you’re as good as dead.

Every design starts as an idea. Originality is everything in the design world. Even the best designers get stuck at times, but the truly great ones drive a mental bulldozer right through any roadblocks and keep going strong.

So, if you’re driving a mental tank, you’ll make a great designer, but if you’re riding in a mental clown car…

7. You’re Always Disorganized

Designing requires good organizational skills. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. It all starts with your workspace. If you work in an organized environment where your stuff is easily found, you’ll be more productive. But it doesn’t end there.

You’ve got to organize your schedule as well, but there’s more, much more — design itself is an organizational task. You’ve got to organize information in a way that makes sense to people who view your designs. Design is, to a large extent, the art and science of visual organization.

8. You’re Lazy

Laziness is the enemy of good design. Students, I hate to break it to you, but gone are the summers where the most important thing to do was catch up on daytime television. Once you graduate from college, you’re going to be working full time.

If you choose design as a career, you’re going to have tasks to accomplish (surprise, surprise). It’s something like schoolwork except if you don’t "turn it in" on time, you’ll get an F for Fired. It’s that simple, really.

If you want to get paid as a professional designer, you have to work. And you can’t just work, you have to do good work. To do good work, you have to practice, put in the hours and not give up.

9. You Hate Not Being Physically Active on the Job

Designing is not running. It’s not swimming, it’s not hiking, it’s not snowboarding. It’s not a physically strenuous  job. You’ll spend the majority of your day in a chair getting to know your computer monitor, mouse, keyboard and pen tablet a little better.

If you want to maintain your physical fitness, you’ll have to do that on your own time.

10. You Don’t Like Learning

If you barely survived college — and let’s be honest here, it’s literally not rocket science, design is one of the world’s easiest majors — you may not like what I’m about to say next.

Design requires a lifetime of constant learning to maintain relevance. Some people enjoy learning (especially if they are passionate about what they do for work), but others shy far, far away from it.

New versions of programs are always just around the corner, new technologies are born and designers must learn how to create for new mediums all the time. Learning new things and changing your set ways (if having set ways is even an option as a designer) is a huge part of the job.

Some Parting Words

Design, like any profession, takes dedication. You should only consider a career as a designer if you are truly passionate about design, have strong communication skills, can organize yourself and information and love to learn new things.

What are other traits that designers can’t afford to have? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Related Content

• Five Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Expand Your Design Business
• Why Designers Should Learn How to Code
• How to Design for Your Worst Client: You.
• Related categories: Productivity and Project Management

About the Author

Chris McConnell co-founded the Brandeluxe network of sites, which includes Freelance Review, Design News Source and Daily Design Advice. Be sure to follow @Brandeluxe and @DesignNewsSrc on Twitter.

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Designing has always been hard for me. I recall back when I was still in school, I learned to design a poster for a carnival and I had a small sketchbook to draft out ideas that came to me.

In the end, I did not run out of pages to draw on. In fact, I didn’t even finishing drawing on a single page.

Trying to create an original design is not always easy. The flow of ideas can start off slow for most people. But I’ve found that there are some things that have helped me get over creative block, and I want to share them with you here.

Things that Contribute to a Designer’s Creative Block

There are a number of things that leave us uninspired.

1. Perfectionism

Some people see perfectionism as a strength, while others dread it like a disease.

Perfectionism is one of my biggest obstacles, proving to be my Achilles’ heel when it comes to completing projects.

It’s presence is constantly at the back of my mind reminding me to edit, redesign, edit and redesign over and over again.

I want to create the best that I know I’m capable of, but who’s the judge of what "the best" is? Me.

2. Fear

Fear is a relatively huge factor and there is a large range of fears that we have when we put our work out there. Fear of rejection, fear of criticism or even the fear of fear itself.

The vast number of thoughts running through our mind want to be heard, but we do not have the time to listen to all of them.

3. Trust

Do you trust yourself? It can be hard sometimes, I know.

However, trust grows stronger with each design you create. When you are passionate about the work you design and you know the value of your work, trust comes naturally.

If not, keep on designing and trust will surely catch up to you.

4. State of Well-Being

Your mental, emotional and physical conditions are more important than you realize.

If you are anxious, impatient or sick, the flow of energy in your body is disrupted, which in turn significantly affects your creative output.

Clear Your Thoughts

Look around. There are many sources of inspiration that you could be receiving if you open up. (See a list of places online for design inspiration.)

Take a deep breath. Think positive thoughts that can channel your internal energy considerably to be your ally.

I have noticed that when I go through a list of positive aspects in my life and start showing gratitude for all the good things that’s happened, my energy shifts and creativity starts flooding in. Everything falls into place.

If you have a lot of thoughts in your mind, pen things down, elucidate your goals and release these thoughts.

9 Simple Ways to Kill Designer’s Block

To completely purge designer’s block from your mind is easier said than done.

There are, however, many simple ways to be free of it that do not require ancient medical recipes to heal yourself.

Here are a few tips and tricks of my own.

1. Be Grateful and Appreciative

As I have mentioned above, gratitude is a very powerful tool to improve your state of mind. When we are in a positive and cheerful mental state, we become more productive. This ultimately has a greater impact on others around us as well.

2. Meditate

Though you may think meditation is just lame, on the contrary, meditation is a great way to relax your mind and channel your focus.

You can even meditate while you are cleaning your room or doing something that allows you to relax your mindset.

Meditation is freeing, giving you the opportunity to reset your brain. It is a great tool for inspiration and mental mending.

Now you know why monks love meditating.

3. Move your Body

If you have not been exercising when you run out of creativity, now is the time to start.

Exercising not only allows blood to flow to your brain, but it also produces adrenaline, which makes you feel better.

After exercising, you will be rejuvenated and more likely to come up with one or several ideas, and it could also help you get rid of the extra pound or two you’ve manufactured from sitting in front of the computer.

4. Watch Your Caffeine Intake

Caffeine—like everything else—has both its good and bad points. The key to this is moderation. Some studies have found that small amounts of caffeine may help prevent cancer due to the antioxidants it contains.

Caffeine intake causes a short-term elevation in your metabolism, giving you a burst of energy.

However, dependence on caffeine will affect your health in the long run.

5. Watch some Videos

Watching some inspirational videos will lift your spirits and provide inspiration for new ideas.

A great video I strongly recommend is "The Secret." Although it does not teach you about design, it has many pointers that could be beneficial towards your route to success.

6. Be Yourself

It is sad to hide in the shadow of others and it takes a lot of energy to try to be someone else, even in your design work.

Design from your heart and just let loose.

You will be astounded by the results if you keep going at it.

7. Do a Good Deed

Do something nice for someone. Give your friend a gift. Help an elderly person cross the street. Donate to charity. Smile at everyone you meet. Kindness opens up your heart and unleashes your creativity.

What goes around will one day come back to you.

8. Sleep Well

Excluding the amount of time spent sleeping, 24 hours will never be enough for you in a day.

Even so, you still need a considerable amount of rest. Having adequate amounts of sleep will enable you to work longer.

So stop burning the midnight oil and head to bed early. Your body will thank you for this. Some ideas come to you when you are on your bed and your body is highly relaxed.

Who knows, the fairy godmother of creativity may even pay you a visit in your dreams. Prepare a pen and paper next to your bed so that you won’t miss anything when you wake up.

9. Be Humble

Be humble and accept any criticism that comes your way. Before you brush it aside, analyze what has been said and why they were said in the first place. Reflect on these words and seek to improve yourself.

If you are humble, people are more willing to share and offer constructive advice, and this will eventually open up your window of creativity.

Humility is a useful tool that can get you further.

More Ways to Kill Creative Block

Here are more articles for your reading pleasure.

• Onextrapixel: Ways for Freelancers to Get Inspiration for Design Work
• Freelance Switch: 60 More Places to Get Design Inspiration, Online and Off
• Mashable: 100 Great Resources for Design Inspiration

Articles on Creativity

• How to Create Creativity
• How to Stay Ahead of the Curve as a Designer
• 6 Reasons Why You Should Do Personal Design Projects
• Inspirational Tips and Tools from a Designer
• A Designer’s List of New Year’s Resolutions
• 10 Unusual Places to Get Design Inspiration
• Popular Logos with Hidden Symbolisms

Say Goodbye to Creative Block!

Designers, like any other person, work and play in the same way. It is how they perceive things in a different manner that makes them unique.

What are your methods for getting rid of creative block? Do you simply avoid them and bury your head straight into the sand?

Related Content

• How to Create Creativity
• Feedback. The Creativity Killer.
• How to Design for Your Worst Client: You.
• Related categories: Productivity and Design Showcase / Inspiration

About the Author

Aidan Huang is one of the editors-in-chief and author at Onextrapixel. He is also a web enthusiast and front-end web developer that strongly believes in sharing exciting and noteworthy information with the community. Grab their RSS feed and follow him on Twitter as @AidanOXP for more exciting information.

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One of the challenges that we as web professionals face is that of keeping our skills updated in a constantly changing world. Our expertise can and will quickly become outdated if we don’t work purposely to continue our education, which makes continuing education one of the most important things you can do.

But when you’re putting in full days to take care of clients and working hard on developing your business, we look at that continued education and often end up telling ourselves, "That can wait," and before we know it our skills have fallen behind and then our work suffers because of it.

The good news: with a little bit of determination, you can stay on top of those skills and even have fun with the learning. Today, we’re going to look at how you can overcome your obstacles and make it happen.

And by the way, the best part is that this continuing education has both long-term and short-term results, so it’s not one of those things where you have to wait forever to start seeing the fruit. You can put your new skills to use right away, in addition to reaping long-term success from your maintained competence. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty exciting! Let’s look at the how-to.

Step 1: Make a Plan

Your educational efforts will be much more productive if you make a plan ahead of time. Ask yourself, "What do I want to learn? What skills have I seen in others that I would like to have?" These could be things specifically related to your work, like if you decided that you wanted to master Photoshop Actions. Or they could be from a different but similar skill set, like if a developer decided he wanted to learn a new programming language. Or your desired skills could be business/people related, like if you decided you wanted to become better at making good first impressions with potential clients.

It’s all up to you, and you have the freedom to set your sights on anything! It’s important to break out of the box and make sure you don’t have any of those "I always wanted to learn how to ______, but I never did" regrets in regards to your job.

In case you wondered, there are two reasons why it’s important to plan what you want to learn about.

First, this brainstorming might make you think of some ideas you would have missed out on otherwise.

And second, on the other end of the spectrum, is that it keeps your education efforts focused on the things you really wanted them to be focused on. I know some of us (me included) have a tendency to get distracted reading blogs and such and then excusing it as "continuing education". I know from experience it’s an easy trap to fall into, and we don’t want to end up there, so making a plan ahead of time and help us avoid that!

Step 2: Schedule It

If you’re like me and most other people, you know that if it doesn’t get put in the schedule, it probably won’t happen. That’s why it’s essential to set aside a time each week and just make yourself stick to it. Before long, you’ll find yourself looking forward to your weekly learning session.

Pick a time that is generally free from interruptions, and then be consistent in setting apart that time. Of course, you don’t have to pick a weekly timeframe. Once a week has worked well for me, but if you find that some other scheduling works better for you, by all means go with that.

The key is regularity, and other than that it’s up to you.

Step 3: Find out How

You’ve got the plan, you’ve got a time scheduled, now what? The next step is to find the resources you’re going to use for this extra learning – a way to expand your knowledge in an easy, fun and cost-effective way. Of course, for different people this will take different forms. For example, I’m a book person. I’d rather learn from a good, thorough book than pretty much anything else. You’ve got plenty of other options, though – seminars, videos, and heck, you could get a full education just from all the excellent blogs out there. Each of these has its own pros and cons, so I would repeat that it’s vital to establish your own criterion based on your own needs and preferences and then go from there.

Here are some of the excellent, varied options you have for continuing your education.

Conferences

While these aren’t so cost-effective or schedule friendly, the seminars and other opportunities cannot be overlooked, and the contact-building capabilities of conferences are another benefit. If you’re the conference-going type, check out these lists of web conferences and writing conferences.

Social Media

the great part about using social media for education is the personal interaction that goes with it. If you’re interested in expanding your social media experience to include education, try reading and Social Media Basics for Freelancers and  Continuing Your Education 140 Characters at a Time

Blogs

I don’t have to explain this one!  A good collection of feeds is an indispensable resource – and very possibly the only education you’ll ever need. You probably already have a collection of favorites, but if you’re looking for more ideas, there’s a whole host of great opportunities:

• Top 100 Freelance Blogs
• The Top 10 Blogs for Writers
• 30 Web Design Blogs with Consistently Good Content
• The 20 Best Productivity and Personal Development Blogs

Books

Books can add up quickly, but they are certainly fabulous learning tools. And don’t forget to check your public library – they won’t have everything (and not the very newest stuff), but it’s a great way to be able to read some good books without putting a whole lot of cash on the line. Then, if the book was a once-through kind of book, you didn’t spend any money, and if it’s the kind you’ll want to refer back to, you can always go get your own. Wondering how to find what’s worth reading? Try these:

• 50 Must Read Books in Web Development
• 40 Books for Professional Design and Development
• The Top 10 Media and Marketing Books
• The 10 Best Books for Writers
• Copywriting Books You Should Buy

There’s a whole world of opportunities out there – the important thing is that you pick something that fits you well and gives you the inspiration to stick with it.

Where Will You Go?

The world moves fast, and it’s up to you how you’ll stay on top of it, but I hope you’ve been able to see that you can definitely maintain your professional skills without draining your wallet or adding another chore to your schedule. Learning is really an enjoyable adventure – and the destination is all up to you!

Related Content

• How to Stay Ahead of the Curve as a Designer
• 6 Things You Need for Your Web Project to Succeed
• How to Start a Freelance Company
• Related categories: Project Management and Productivity

About the Author

Nick Parsons is a web enthusiast, designer and developer from Houston, Texas, as well as the owner of Webitect, an awesome resource blog for webmasters. Feel free to contact him via email or Twitter.

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There are many services out on the web for online collaboration, but there’s no doubt that Google Docs is rapidly becoming one of the more popular brands. Google Docs is free, web based (i.e. cross platform), and quite simple to use. But that doesn’t mean it lacks features.

Whether you’re a regular user or have just been thinking about trying it out, here are the top 6 tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Google Docs.

1. Chatting in Google Docs

To get the most out of Google Docs, you’ve got to be able to communicate in real time and with more efficiency than simply writing notes to each other on the shared page. Google Docs takes care of this issue with a built in chat client that hides easily in the top right corner.

When sharing a presentation, the chat client has the ability to share inline photos from Picasa or Flickr and videos from Google video and YouTube.

2. Organize your documents easily.

Google Docs uses a pretty clean interface, but any time you’re sharing with multiple people it pays to be as organized as possible. With Google Docs the best way to stay organized is by making use of colors and comments.

In a spreadsheet colors can be set to follow certain rules (such as turning the text of every cell with your name in it purple), and you can insert comments by right clicking on any cell to get your message across without taking up space.

In the overall Docs interface, folders can be color coded too in a manner similar to gmail labels.

3. Share with others

Google Docs is all about sharing, but you knew that. The key, however, is to know exactly how you can share. At the discretion of the owner, collaborators can be invited to edit or simply to view a shared document.

By default anyone who can edit the document has the ability to share the document with others, and if you really want to open the floodgates you can open the document for universal viewing or editing. Be warned though, there is a limit of 10 people for simultaneous editing of documents and presentations (for spreadsheets, the limit is a much safer 50).

4. Scale back (revision)

You already know Google Docs is autosaving everything you do, but you may not know that you can manipulate past revisions in order to see exactly what’s changed.

All Google Docs will keep a revisions history so you can track your changes and, if you want, revert to them at any time. In the document revision history, you even have the ability to look at two versions side by side to view color coded changes.

5. Draw

Just recently Google added a collaborative drawing feature to Google Docs. This opens up a whole new array of sharing options, as diagrams and charts can now be constructed and shared with ease. The options are obviously not comprehensive, but you have your choice of a variety of shapes, lines, arrows, or text boxes, and you can color and rotate and even layer the objects to a certain extent. The picture for this one is Google’s.

6. The rest

There are a number of other features located within Google Docs that you may or may not find useful.

Google gives you the ability to edit the html or even the css of your documents. In a spreadsheet, you can reference one sheet from the other, allowing users to stay on their own sheet while simultaneously updating others. There is also Google’s live lookup which can be used to have cells contain data gathered live from the internet, and much more. And yes, that html will put a marquee on your google doc.

Google Docs is currently in Beta and frequently changes. Google provides their own tutorial here and blogs about many of the changes they make here.

What’s your favorite Google Doc tip?

This article was written by Daniel Shain, one of the best editors working for LaptopLogic.com. Are you planning on buying a new Dell laptop? Check the latest laptop computer reviews before you make your final choice!

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• Related categories: Tools, Project Management

About the Author

Daniel Shain is freelance writer for the Laptop Logic Team – providing news and reviews on mobile technology. He’s also an avid Boston sports fan. Daniel graduated from Union College in ’07 with a BA in English and a minor in Computer Science.

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The internet has given the web professional a plethora of venues for seeking project-based work. With lots of places offering freelance gigs such as allfreelance.com, classified listing sites such as craigslist , and job boards on popular weblogs such as FreelanceSwitch and Smashing Magazine, the resourceful web builder can scout and find jobs that extends their geographical boundaries.

An effective creative questionnaire allows you to gain relevant, focused, and helpful design information without taking up a lot of the client’s time. I use the term “questionnaire” because it’s a familiar term, but as you’ll see, some examples aren’t questions.

This article is primarily about developing a one-way questionnaire where you aren’t there to explain or expound on the questions you’ve asked the respondent, though the same concepts apply whether you’re communicating via email or during a face-to-face meet.

Keep it as short as possible

Long questionnaire forms, in my experience, tend to result in rushed responses. Keep questions and the survey as short, concise, and clear as possible. We have to respect the client’s time. Typically, a demand for a website arises when a business is just starting out or when current solutions can’t meet increasing demands; either way, they’ve got a lot on their plate already.

Instead of:

“Think for a moment about your company’s mission statement – How does that traverse into the online world and how will a website achieve your mission statement?”

simply say:

“In your mind, what’s the business value of having a website?”

The latter example is terse and unambiguous. Let them do the writing, keeping yours to a minimum.

Include creative questions, preferably in the beginning

A creative question, in this context, refers to unconventional questions that have two goals:

1. to extract information indirectly – “If your website was a car, what car would it be?”
2. to get the respondent in a mood where they’re comfortable to say anything without restraint.

An effective questionnaire gets the client’s uninhabited, raw thoughts and emotions. Including them at the start can set this tone early on in the process.

Examples of creative questions

• Imagine a typical user browsing your website, what would they be thinking right now?
• Use one word to describe your website.
• What features of your website would your competitors be most envious of?
• If your website disappeared for a week, what would your users miss the most?

Provide example responses to focus and clarify your meaning

Your questions may seem crystal clear to you, but to the client, it may mean another thing. Provide sample responses to direct your client’s answers.

Some examples:

• List down key words that you associate with your company. Without prompts, you can get very colorful responses like “awesome”, “da bomb”, “where I get money for my gambling debts”. Adding “For example, a Spanish restaurant may use ‘paella’, ‘international’, ‘culture’” would make your question less vague.
• What types of designs do you like? You can indicate your expected answer by saying instead, “Please view these websites [then, list down some website addresses]. What do you like about them? What do you hate about them?”

Avoid unfocused open-ended questions

An open-ended question is one that allows the respondent to answer in a less-structured fashion. For example, an open-ended question would be, “what do you think about web 2.0?”. In contrast, a closed-ended question would be, “What’s one thing you like about web 2.0?”

Open-ended questions are a necessity in design questionnaires, but avoid ones that are vague and overly generalized.

Examples

• Describe the design you want. You can focus the respondent’s answers by saying instead, “Write specific design features that you’d like to see in the design mock-up”.
• Describe the nature of your business. This can be revised to: “Describe a typical day in your place of work”.

Evolve (tailor) your questions

Web development projects typically take week to a month’s worth of work. This means that you can—and should—take the time to customize your questionnaires for each of your clients. If you use a web-based form, this can be a bit more tedious, but it can be done by sending more questions in an email. Not only will this allow you to gain information unique to the client’s industry, it also shows that you’re giving personal attention to their needs.

Typically, I prefer to have only ten questions per questionnaire, seven of which are my standard questions and three are tailored towards the client’s particular organization.

What to do after you receive a response

Internalize it. What I do after getting a questionnaire back is I read it thoroughly, once or twice. I digest the information I’m given by rewriting and rephrasing the responses on a text file that I keep open as I design the mock-up. Embrace the subtleties of your client’s responses, take notice of grammar or spelling mistakes, all of this can be significant in helping you learn about the people you’re working with.

Example:

Website name: My AWESOME Company
Tagline: This is so awesome that I capitalized "Awesome"
Preferred colors: none specified, but described as  “high-impact”
Look and feel: Web 2.0, gradients, large text
Key words (design theme): fun, young, colorful

Ask for clarification if needed. Don’t be timid in following-up on answers that seem unclear to you. Ask as soon as you can so that your client still remembers the questionnaire-answering session.

Use it to strengthen your mock-up presentation. Use the responses while presenting your initial design mock-up to explain the design direction you took. Quote responses verbatim, if appropriate. For example, if you chose a sans-serif font face, you can say “In your response, you indicated that you wanted a clean, modern, professional design, which is showcased in the mock-up by the dark-gray, Arial font…” If you chose green hues, you can say “You mentioned that you needed a website that ‘evokes a feeling of cleanliness and ‘eco-friendliness”, so I decided to use green hues to…”

Use their responses to explain why you decided to use certain colors, a certain layout, why you avoided particular elements, etc.

Some other tips I’ve found helpful

Outline the purpose and relevant information in an introductory paragraph. Describe the purpose of your questionnaire. Assert what you expect to get as a response. Indicate the importance of the questionnaire. Typically, I’ll say something along the lines of “You are a very important part of the design process so your responses here will prove to be a valuable asset throughout the project”.

Let the client know how much time to take. Most of the time, this avoids rushed responses. I ask each respondent to take between 30 minutes to 1 hour so that they may properly answer the questionnaire.

Leave out the tech jargon. It doesn’t impress anyone, and it will only annoy them if they don’t know what you’re talking about. Use terms that are common knowledge.

Fix flawed questions. Every few projects (usually I do it every three projects or so), I take my most current questionnaires and I evaluate each question for its usefulness and clarity.

Fill out your own questionnaire. I’ve found it very enlightening to fill out my own questionnaire form. When you write the questions yourself, you don’t really think too much about the effort and the process of responding to them. I’ve found questions where I thought, “Man, I don’t want to answer this, it’s too damn long and I’ve got so much stuff going on”. Try it, at the very least, it’s a fun activity.