How do you get motivated?
pokie (1213 points) | Mon, 2005-06-06 15:19I know there are a few freelance designers on here and you know, I just can't get motivated to do much of anything. I need to do a website, some little fake jobs to put in a portfolio on said website, but I just never find the time. Maybe motivation isn't the right word. I just feel a bit overwhelmed. And it doesn't help the fact that my husband wants me to use CSS on this new website (which I don't know much about CSS-- and with a toddler and a part-time job, who has time to learn?).
I refuse to put up a website that is something I can't be completely proud of. Does anyone else find themselves in the same pickle? I love doing the stuff for people (right now I'm retouching my grandparents' wedding photo and really love doing this kind of stuff and looking forward to doing a few people's wedding stuff in the next year)... but it's just so hard to get a URL name you like, a website designed, a ton of examples to put on said website. Oy.
I think doing your own porti (web site) is one of the hardest things for a designer. I don't know why, but I've seen so many designers share your feelings, including myself. BUT, you gotta get down to it. And when you're done wait two weeks and you will want to start reworking it to version 2 and so on. It's a neverending process I guess.
I understand exactly what you mean and Ivan's right, the hardest thing I've realised just now is setting your own self up. I've had a few half-hearted attempts so far, but nothing concrete since I don't have the time, and not gone very far in my design career either.
Don't know whether this'll be of any use to you or not, I usually find that poppin' my head into design books gets me going again. You could even sit the toddler down with ya and get a few ideas buzzin' in it's head too. :p
I think you just got to be patient and take it one step at a time (as I've just been told). Good luck with your freelancing anyway!
THanks you guys! So glad to know I'm not just a lazy bum. :) It is so hard.
I'm going to finish editting some photos for my mom and then I'm going to make myself sit down and think of a URL. I'd like to get at least a website up by the end of this month even if I don't have a ton of examples on it.
Just a suggestion, pokiedesigner.com? [poke a designer]
LOL well, this is the only place I go by pokie. I was thinking of using my last name. Dunno yet!
I've been freelancing since 1998 and I've never got my act together to design my own site, I don't even have a 'folio. I dunno, I just get a mental block on this, I'm considering commissioning another designer to do the job for me. It'd be quite fun seeing how another graphics pro interpreted your work.
I agree with Ivan that it's a "never-ending process", you'd always want to pick it apart and change things, this is definitely not a job that you could put to bed and forget about.
I also think it's important to keep your gallery site updated frequently (he says!), a lot of the time when I visit design sites that haven't been updated it looks like they've gone out of business.
But yeah, it's a tough call, maybe have a look around somewhere like Showstudio or Styleboost for inspiration. It's never worked for me though, heh ;-)
http://www.styleboost.com/
http://www.showstudio.com/
Dali's Moustache Blog
Thanks for the response!
If you have high bandwidth, lynda.com has a subscription-based access to their (streaming) training video library. Their titles are excellent and well-done. Just sit, watch and learn. Pretty sweet.
I'd also suggest doing some paying jobs for your portfolio and hold off on stressing over a web site until it's a necessity. Until then, put up a creatively-done contact page.
Terrell Thornhill
e-zign Design Group