Whether working freelance or for a dedicated firm, there are numerous things that need to be considered when it comes to web design process. Concepts, project plans, the design itself, further development and testing, all of these play an integral part of the web development process and postponing any one of these can have lasting adverse effects on the project. That’s why we’ve prepared these 9 productivity tips you can follow to ensure your projects always get finished on time, without any unnecessary delays.
Make your daily tasks into a routine
You’d be surprised by the number of working people who set their goals in the beginning of the week, only to end up accomplishing absolutely nothing in the end. The project always gets pushed further and further, until it either gets canceled or rushed at the last minute, leading to an unsatisfied client. Fortunately, this can all be avoided with some commitment and clever planning. Set up a timetable, schedule your work and stick to that schedule no matter what. You’ll be finished that design work in no time.
Sort out your work priorities
More often than not, you’ll find yourself working on two or more projects at the same time. Constantly switching from one to another depending on your mood and concentration may sound good at first, but ultimately prevents you from really dedicating yourself to your work. And odds are that among those projects you have one that needs to be done ahead of all others or simply demands the most work. Prioritizing is important, because it allows you commit to a certain project until you’ve finished, without being distracted by your other work.
Know when you’re most efficient
Not all is at their most alert and active state at the same exact time. It’s different for everyone, some are early birds and morning activity suits them best, while other prefer being awake and active during the night. This is especially true for freelancers, as they choose the jobs that suit them best without worrying about shifts and work hours. Knowing when you’re at your best can help you organize your workload better, which in turn will make you more efficient at your job.
Set a fixed end date for your project
As we already said, making a schedule and sticking to it is an essential part of productive work. It serves as a reminder and a progress tracker for all of your projects. Setting and end date ensures that you don’t stretch your job needlessly and procrastinate all the time. Proper scheduling allows you to maintain all your projects in an orderly fashion and get finished by the predetermined date. It also provides you with the information regarding progress estimates, something that most clients want to know on a regular basis.
Find out what distracts you the most
Identifying the reason behind a distraction is very important. Whether it’s constantly checking your phone, email, or a social network profile, a distraction can only have an adverse effect on your work. Another routine, besides the daily tasks, should also be the avoidance of distractions. Stick to your routine and try catching yourself in the act. The moment you realize you’re no longer thinking about work and start reaching for your phone is the moment you need to remind yourself that work should be your main point of interest.
Make a checklist of all your work obligations
Checklists are used in all branches of work for a reason. They allow you to make a list of things that needs to be done and the best way of sorting that list should be of urgency. If you’ll be using your favorite mobile app, then set a widget with that list on the home screen to have in sight at all times. You’d be surprised how good and rewarding it can feel to check the things you’ve accomplished of the list.
Always double check your work
This is an important step, no matter what kind of work you’re doing. But for designers, small mistakes can easily be overlooked and allowed to pass all the way through into the final version of the design. Professionals in this field recommend you take some time at the end of the day, to quickly go over your work one more time. Check if you’ve covered all the modules and whether there’s something specific the client requested. And remember to always test your design before launching it.
Have a contingency plan
When it comes to web design and development, projects often get delayed for one reason or another and end up taking more time to be finished than what was expected. When you book a certain project, make sure to assign it additional time to finish, in case anything happens. This is what separates the amateurs from professionals, amateurs believe that they’ll finish the project in time, whereas professionals know that it always takes more time than what they originally predicted.
Get enough rest
This is the single most important tip you can get. Not getting enough sleep directly impacts you design work and leads to making mistakes and looking unprofessional. All work needs time to be finished and with a design this also includes doing research, redesigning and reassessing the project more than once. Plan your work and sleep hours accordingly and make sure to recap what you accomplished before going to sleep. With this, you can plan ahead and stop worrying about waking in the middle of the night because you forgot something.
Conclusion
With the number of things that distract us on a daily basis being higher than ever, remaining efficient and productive has become a bigger challenge than it ever was before. Web design is a precise and time-sensitive matter so make sure you don’t surround yourself with distractions. Schedule you work properly, set realistic goals and try to sleep on a regular basis. This will ensure you don’t mess up anything along the way and the project will be done when it is supposed to.
Author Bio
John Stone is a Joomla developer from Sydney and a business consultant at AlgorithmSEOSydney. Through years of experience as a, he became a devout believer in the notion that form should always follow function and that developing the ability to think outside of the box is a prerequisite of being a successful entrepreneur.