Productivity posts

Every time we begin a web design project, we do research. We research our clients, their customers, the website’s target audience, and the competition.

Throughout our careers, we research new trends, techniques, tools, and other designers. We’re always on the lookout for that one new thing which will make us better at what we do, or will make our jobs easier. We love our craft, so we read articles, analyze raw data, consult with experts, and more. What is life without improvement and progress?

But so often we neglect to research the one tool, the one common factor, present in every project you will...

In the journey from fledgling startup to full-blown success, any burgeoning business will undoubtedly face its fair share of obstacles along the way. But those who traverse the bumpy road to emerge victorious typically have one thing in common:  They choose to see the world through a set of visionary glasses.

With this in mind, Startup Vitamins has produced a series of motivational typographic posters to remind budding entrepreneurs of some simple, yet profound truths. Artfully presented in a clean san-serif font with uncomplicated lines and appropriately nuanced colors, each poster succeeds in letting the message speak...

It may be a project at work you just can’t get a handle on, or an important decision you can’t seem to make; but regardless of the situation, everyone can relate to the feeling of being stuck. Luckily, there’s Unstuck — a free iPad app designed to help users break free from a sticky situation.

Released by SYPartners — experts in leadership and company transformation, whose...

Even the most creative mind needs a bit of left-brain order sometimes. While more work is what every freelancer and business wants because it means more earnings, it can also mean more stress, more admin and less time to spare.

The answer is planning: making a list of everything you need to do, how long it should take and when you need to do it. Spending time on planning can seem like time taken away from actual work, but it will save you time and stress in the long run. And if a particular job seems large and unmanageable, breaking it down into smaller, bite-sized...

Freelancers (and anyone else who works for him or herself) know that the tide of work ebbs and flows. There’s little question, then, that given the rather capricious nature of incoming projects, it’s critical to meet deadlines—after all, there’s no quicker way of losing future work than...

Cards on the table: First and foremost, I’m a writer. And while I’ve worked with more than my share of design gurus, I’m not one myself. But that doesn’t mean we don’t share some commonality—namely, an affinity for the creative, and an aptitude for having that creativity blocked.

Anyone who taps into the right brain—from artists and musicians...

Creative thinking is an integral part of design and all art-related professions. Hyper-creative people appear to conceive of brilliant ideas as easily as magicians pull rabbits from hats, but the truth is that we all meet with creative blocks.

Usually, lack of creativity or originality isn’t the problem — if it was, we wouldn’t have chosen these professions — but we must learn to be creative regularly and according to a work schedule rather than with unpredictable bursts of inspiration.

Plenty of tools and techniques have been invented to address...

For many startup businesses out there, the idea of funding or angel investment is a mere pipe dream. ‘Bootstrapping’ is a much more realistic way for many new businesses to build their online presence and customer base – but that doesn’t mean that everything has to be a struggle.

No money doesn’t have to mean no hope and it is essential that you don’t scrimp on the essential aspects of running a business, such as staying in touch with customers, keeping track of your sales processes, and making sure your finances are up to date.

Luckily, whether you are looking to launch an online venture in your spare time or are launching a full time business with...

Some days work sucks. We start out with good intentions, but our energy levels are low and we go from constructively improving our website to surfing the App Store looking for new games to play.

One response to this kind of procrastination is to force yourself to continue working. You plug away at whatever task you said you would work on at the beginning of the day, but achieve little. This can feel like banging your head against a brick wall and prove remarkably unproductive.

A better response to these periods of lethargy and procrastination is to switch gear and focus on less demanding activities. This is more productive than giving up entirely, but less demoralizing than attempting to complete...

A startup, by definition, is an entity with limited resources. Those resources could be budget, time, talent, or anything related, but what is certain is that there is indeed some form of limitation on resources – otherwise it wouldn’t be a start-up.

It is because of this that a lot of management styles have been tried and battle tested to tackle the challenge that is launching, and running, one of these beasts of time and energy. And over the years there seems to be two independent schools of thought that have emerged within the market: the lean launch, and the big buildup.

The lean launch involves things like agile development processes, user testing, idea validation, purposeful programming, behavior driven development, and many others. Then, on the other hand, you have the big build before launch: in this model one would sink tons of time, and developers into a project to make sure that it is feature...

I was getting ready to quit my job and start a new company. It was one of those moments where you psych yourself up and rack your brain for any good excuse not to go through with it. Sort of like that moment right before you go off the tall diving board for the first time. Naturally, a thousand pin-pricks of doubt tickled the back of my mind, coalesced into a cannon ball, and plunged to the pit of my stomach where it promptly burst into furious butterflies.

I took some time to calm down and remind myself of all the reasons it was a good choice, the right time, and all the other perfectly sane reasons that prompted me to break out on my own in the first place.

What I really needed though, was a pep talk, so I called an old boss of mine who has always been encouraging.