GTD & Web Design Resources

Once again Mashable. com has put together two great lists of resources that are helpful for GTD (getting things done) and web design. So without further ado, I give you two get started sites for increasing your productivity and getting web design tools.

1. GTD toolbox 100+ tools for getting things done,
2. Web design tools: 100+ tools for web design.

Check them out and let me know which are most useful.

Get Motivated and Stay That Way!

We all know it is sometimes hard to start projects, even those we care about and want to do. Thus, today's lifehack comes from the Zen Habits blog offering The Ultimate Guide to Motivation. My favorite aspect of this article is that it breaks down two categories in which procrastination usually stops progress:

1. Getting started, and
   
2. Staying motivated when you are in the middle of the project.
   

This latter category is especially helpful because natural stalls in project workflow can make downtime, wasted time if we're not motivated to keep moving forward. Thus, for the long hot days of summer, let the zen expert be your guide.

Keep focused while working...

It is easy to get distracted and not get the most out of time set aside for work. Thus, in the spirit of fostering productivity, this post from Zen Habits provides numerous tips for keeping work time focused on must-do tasks. These tips fall into the "don't waste time and prioritize" categories. Though most seem like common sense, there are a few gems worth noticing:

1. Take more breaks,
2. Plan you day with details, and
3. Notice your lazy routines to name a few.

Klok is a cool Adobe Air application that allows you to keep track of the time you spend on projects. It might be useful for quoting jobs or just tracking a work session.

As always, I appreciate feedback on the application if you try it.

Now get to work!

Clean Your Credit History

This site from the Make Your Nut blog teaches you how to give your credit history a makeover. The basic premise is that you can reset your credit history by asking the credit reporting agencies to justify the negative records that show up when a credit check is performed.


Read the story, try the techniques and provide feedback below.

Feeeeeature Creeeeep

http://sixrevisions.com/project-management/eight-tips-on-how-to-manage-feature-creep/

Save yourself a lot of pain in your professional life and learn from the above article.

In my experience (combined with a lot of reading/discussing other artists' own trials and tribulations), learning those lessons the hard way means uncomfortable stretches of unemployment or total abandonment of the industry to avoid dealing with clients.

Hope this prevents some disasters (or at the very lest gives you a cushion to fall on)!

10 Creativity Blocks

It's the end of winter and time to recharge your creative battery. Copyblogger.com offers 10 tips for recognizing creative blocks. If you can eliminate some or all of the blocks listed, you just might be able to see the world from a fresh standpoint adn get the idea engine started.

Check it out especially if you're stalled on a project.

Repair your credit and get a free credit report

So you're a college student with credit problems. Join the club. Many students face the issue of repairing credit mistakes made before they gained financial awareness. To make the recovery easier, visit the "Make your nut" site to learn how to repair a bad credit report. Having a good FICO score is vital for securing credit and loans post-college. This site teaches you how to raise your score and get negative elements taken off of your report.

Also you can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit agencies each year by visiting annualcreditreport.com.

Get out there and fix your credit!

Get out of debt - Part 1

If you're in debt and stressed, Leo Babauta's blog Zen Habits provides wonderful advice for digging your way out. Be sure to read both posts linked here. The first discusses strategies for becoming debt-free; the second covers techniques he used to pursue his dream of turning his blog into his full-time job.


Though his path is not foolproof or tailored to every situation, it does offer insights for those who would work to live versus live to work.


As always your comments and insights are appreciated.

peace,
phree

Career Tips for Illustrators

Nate Williams offers solid career tips to get your work noticed by art directors. His blog is informative and provides examples of the ideas he advocates. This is a good "get started" place for graphic designers who wish to become illustrators. Check out his bio, client list and portfolio too!

Let me know what you think....
phree

Online Porttfolios - The essentials

If you are getting ready to graduate and want to think about the basics for an online portfolio that can generate freelance work, then you must read Build a Killer Online Portfolio. The most valuable segment of this article contains information about content organization and the navigation structure of your site to achieve various objectives.

Enjoy!

2 Useful Utilities

If you are a windows user who works with images and attachments, then the following utilities may help you streamline your workflow.

First, XnView is a utility for viewing and converting graphic files. It allows you to batch process many images at once,is a big time saver if you are a Photoshop user.

Second, clip path is one of many utilities that can save time navigating to attach files in email programs like gmail, hotmail or yahoo mail. Visit the lifehacker download of the day site for clip path here. There is a great discussion that lists other path copying programs as well so be sure to read the whole page.

Happy Holidays!

Fix Your Gadgets, MAC XP, ipod, etc

If you own a computer and other gadgets, then you have to visit the following sites for cool fix it and mod advice:

1. Mac Fix It (http://macfixit.com/).
   
2. Fix my XP (http://fixmyxp.com/). Also check out their list of freeware too.
3. Finally for more ipod juice and to fix the Ipod check out crunchgear.com
   

That's it for now...
phree

Declutter Your Life

A less cluttered life will result in inner peace. This is the mantra of the getting things done (GTD) crowd. According to many studies on hoarding, clutter creates stress, tension and in the extreme, depression. So today's tip comes from the practical blog entitled, "dumb little man."

Read 10 Ways to Declutter Your Life and become an ocean of serenity.

Take your office on the road

This post is productivity oriented in that it links to an article, Rolling Your Own Online Office, that shows you how to keep all of your information handy when you are on the road. The best feature of the article is that it addresses all sorts of project/workplace needs and gives links to freeware for each and every application. Need IM, flowcharting or documents on the road? If so, Josh Catone provides an all-in-one resource center with links for getting things done (GTD). If you find a tool that is particularly useful, please leave a comment below so that others can benefit from your experience.

Forget about Forgetting: Hello to File Syncing

It is a fact that your computer will have issues and lose data when you need it the very most. Saying good bye to that data (countless hours of laboring) is never an easy thing to do. It is much easier to say hello to file syncing.


Unison is one example: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/ (caution - this program is for people who enjoy command line, Linux style operations)

Syncback Freeware is another: http://www.2brightsparks.com/assets/software/SyncBack_Setup.zip The Syncback downloads page is here and the free version of the software is located at the bottom of the page.

Cheers!

Lookslikematt

Loan Basics 101: How much are you paying in interest?

It's good to know how much you'll be paying in interest on fixed rate loans. The amortization calculator is the answer. The calculator is especially useful for car loans, mortgages and student loans as it can show you the breakdown of your payment (i.e., how much is being credited to interest and principle).
The cost of borrowing is sobering, but necessary. Remember all of the interest you pay means extra hours in the office or on the screen. I hope you find the new info interesting...

How to Study Sites

Here are a few study tips sites for those of you wondering how to study for midterm or final exams:

• Hacking Knowledge: 77 Ways to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better

• Study guides and strategies

• CalPoly: study guides library