SUMMARY:I haven't been blogging as frequently as I'd like, but there's a good reason: I have had to spend more time building infrastructure of a technical nature. However, I've also realized that this is a form of procrastination, and I'm acting like a Ph.D. student dragging his feet on his dissertation. I outline a few of the things that are helping me through, and share two new insights that are helping me push through on my new design website.
SUMMARY:Buddy Brad reminds me that making a living from one's "art" is hard work, but once you get something working you should continue to do it until it's exhausted. It makes sense, but there are a few mental hangups that I need to overcome as well. One is preciousness, and the other is perfectionism.
Last week, Sid and I were at the local Jelly and I decided to test our mobile podcasting setup. We did a quick test to see it everything worked (it did), and for the next 20 minutes the studio director and I had a fun conversation about my terrible diction and how to improve it. And as always happens at the Jelly, the conversation detoured through the French language, music, and recollection of foreign lands. If you'd like to hear it, check out JellyCast! Language Lessons at the Nashua Jelly, freshly posted in our Podcast blog.
SUMMARY:I thought I didn't get anything done last week, but after listing everything that happened it's apparent that I'm actually pretty active. What creates the feeling of non-productivity is not the general lack of continuity, but the lack of measurable distance traveled on the metric that is most on my mind: funding all the things that I do every week that make the journey interesting and exciting. In this article, I lay out the services that I think are viable offerings for 2010 and how they relate to my mission.
SUMMARY:I'm increasingly thinking about how to adjusting my daily busywork such that it becomes revenue generating work. I review what I have been getting done, and realize that most of my tasks are not focused in this way.
SUMMARY:I made friends with the amazing Colleen Wainwright recently to start using Google Wave as a collaborative "do not hurry / do not wait" accountability tool. Here's what I've learned so far.
SUMMARY:I've been thinking about making and selling products to support myself, and I am trying to find the "low hanging fruit" that I can start selling now. The challenge reminds me of the "Yankee Swap" game that many of us play during Christmas.
SUMMARY: I've been feeling that there are too many things going on, diluting my efforts to make significant progress. But how do I pick what to focus on and what to ignore? First, I acknowledge that I am feeling uncertain about some aspects of my current work, getting the negative out in the open so I can have a good look at it. Then I synthesize the list of things to focus on for now that alleviate those fears through recommitment to principle.
SUMMARY: Getting started on Wednesday, I'm just not feeling the focus. When I get stuck I usually just write something to get my brain working; writing helps me linearize my thoughts, which helps me visualize what's wrong and what can be done. This time, I become aware that there are six different challenges that I've hazily grouped under the focus label.
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About Dave
I'm an investigative designer, and I write about design, development, and productivity tools.
03-18 3:25: Met the mayor of Nashua today as part of @floatleftlabs mentoring duties; was impressed by her approachability and commitment to community.
03-18 9:58: And grats to @studio99nashua for winning several "best place to be seen", "to bring a date", "to enjoy the view" categories!
03-18 9:41: Grats to @sidceaser for being voted "best local visual artist" in the Hippo, our local weekly! http://hippopress.com/100318/CVR.html
