Ok Hi I am completely loosing it... I am currently working on 2 projects that arent of mine, and am working in 5 of mine.... this is confusing.. well I am doing two sites for customers, and I also am doing 5 sites for myself not including the others that I have to SEO an stuff... The point here is that Im going nuts!!! completely... lately I just want to run away and buy me some beer and forget about this stuff... but for my bad luck Im not that irresponsible, so here I am infront of this shoe box that I like to call laptop, when all of my friends just got out to party... I am constantly trying to figure out how to finish all of these projects in time and with quality. I think that the main problem is that Im REALLY disorganized and sometimes the way I do what I have to do isnt the best way to keep me inside the sane zone. Now I have to think of Uni, bills, tax office, money and my projects... what do you do to keep 'The machine' working as it should? ... I mean Im desperate to the point that I would like to run to the bushes.... One question? when you are working on multiple projects how do you manage them and yourself? do you dedicate specific amounts of hours a day for each and every project? do you select one and put the others in Queu and move to the others only when you have finished the current? do you jump constantly between projects just randomly till they start being finished one by one? or how? I think I really need to know.. Right now what Im doing is that I am working on a one by one basis, selecting a project and moving on to the next one only when finished, also Im doing the SEO for my other sites(and its not so easy cause im a noob at this), and I feel that Im moving as slow as a turtle. also I am constantly learning about SEO, Design & stuff.. so im always with things in my mind.....Today Ive spent around 14hours in front of this damn laptop, I am threatening myself with the idea of adding a new project to the queu and this have been my daily life from the past couple of months.... so if you dont mind I would like to hear some tips from you. Please help this mad bastard get some peace of mind I will greatfully thank you.
Be chill and start to finishing a most important first. That's my way when got many projects at the same time.
Hi, Take a deep breath and watch your blood pressure. Just take pan & paper and make a list of what you want/have to do. Six hours a day for example? 2 learning, 4 working. Divide your list into two columns - a work column and a learn column, then organise the lists in the priority you want to give them. Then work your way through the lists - done it? Tick it. Good luck Mike
thank you all for your posts in conclusion I guess I need to take the chill pill and get myself organized. @MikeHayes I will definitely do as you say, im sure it will help me get organized and with my mind on track. thanks
Writing computer code of any kind requires organization within the code. If you are disorganized elsewhere in life it is VERY hard to be organized when you are writing code. The net result in ALL cases of disorganization is to constantly DO AGAIN what you have already THOUGHT you have done, but because of the disorganization, it was NOT done right the FIRST time. Bottom line is to get organized outside of your coding, and you will find that your coding will go much faster because you are becoming better organized WITHIN your coding. The better organized you are when coding, the less you will need to repeatedly do over. The net result is that you can actually get more done in less time and you will even have time left over for yourself. Since you have so many projects going at once, start writing REUSEABLE code - code that will work the SAME way EVERY time when you drop it into ANY application. There is NO point in CONSTANTLY reinventing the wheel when you can invent it ONCE, then reuse the SAME code in the next project. Look at your projects and see what is COMMON to all of them. Then write code that you can use in ALL of them UNCHANGED. Start a library of these snippets of code that you can use in future applications. There is simply NO point in writing and debugging the same code 7 times, once for each application. It is much more sensible to write DEBUGGED code ONCE and never need to debug it again no matter how many times you use it.
I have many Jobs on the go for clients, plus my own sites. But what I have no come to the realization of, is I have my sites to get clients, plus it fun to work on your own site. but if you already have many clients then the need to finish your sites is less importune. So focus on getting your clients done keep them happy (then if they are happy they send people your way, word of mouth business) then in your free time do you site, you will be less stressed & you'll then work faster because your spending less time worrying. as well what I have started to do is put a little more in my quotes (if possible), and out source part of the job. this way it helps other designers that need work, and it allows me to take on more jobs with still doing the same amount of work. its a win win for everyone.
mmerlin you are right, I not always code a site from scratch, but when I have to I noticed that code recicling is the best way. j eclipse of course that clients will always be first, but only when I accepted a work first.