I thought I would pose an interesting question/thought I had recently. I often find that I make too much work for myself. Let me explain: I have a running list of To-Do’s, usually those things I want to do as well as those things that need done. Rarely does that list ever get completed. Why? Simply because I keep adding to it. Not just a few things at a time, but a lot more than I probably should.
For me it seems that my mind is always running, working, and thinking. I am constantly coming up with things to do. The hamsters that are spinning the wheel in my head must be dying from exhaustion. Sometimes it is a bad thing, as I hop from idea to idea, task to task, and project to project without actually completing one of them. Other times it is wonderful as I have often come up with some ’scathingly brilliant’(1) ideas - - most of which have yet to be completed.
I thought I would see what everyone else thinks. Do you often come up with too much for yourself to do? Do you over volunteer yourself? Do you ever wonder why you can’t finish that infamous To-Do list? Let us know your thoughts, share you resources, tricks or techniques. Don’t be shy share it all with us, I will keep you up to date with some techniques to help battle this as I learn them.
Update 12-27-05: I was re-reading this post and realized that the (1) was never defined. It stands for a movie reference to the Parent Trap (original version), hopefully now it makes sense.
I have often been asked how I come up with design ideas, layout structure, and functionality options. Now while some of my ideas are completely unique, I have to admit that I get ideas from visiting other sites. Most good designers find sites they like and then critique the hell out of it. Basically the first thing I do when I go to any site is look it over for: design, colors, functionality, treats (those special niche things). Once I do that I ask myself what would I do different. At that point I can start making a mental list of the likes and dislikes of each site. Then when it comes time to design a site or create a layout structure I use that resource, screenshots, etc.
“Well isn’t that copying?”, they say. “No,” I reply. Everywhere you go, everything you see in some shape, fashion or form was created with elements from other things. If it isn’t broken, why try to fix it. Why re-invent the wheel if you don’t have to. With that said, I have to reiterate, “Do not clone!” There is where you draw the line.
So how do you find good site? Search engines? Friends? You can use any number of methods, but he best one I have found is by following links. Go from link to link to link, site to site to site. I can not tell you how valuable this technique is. You will run into sites that not only help designing, but are quality resources. Link following is amazing, be prepared to bookmark a lot of sites. Create a seperate folder in your normal bookmarks called ‘temp’ or ‘linktrack’ and bookmark away. Stumble to a great site, bookmark it for review later and then continue on the yellow link road.
Lastly design-wise, I have to say don’t simply look past the things you see around you. Take a moment when you are in a design drought to look around. See the logo on the semi, look at the placement on the billboard, notice the bumper sticker on the jallopy in front of you, remember the structure of the building, or the layout of the park. Everything around you will help.
Many of us use these programs on a daily basis for both pleasure and business. I use it daily for my full time work, my freelance work, and for pleasure (which is usually a mix of work and pleasure). So I thought I would take a moment to go over some pros and cons of some that I use frequently. I Typically do not try to specifically endorse one product over another or one program over another and will not be here.
With that said. Here is a list of the few messaging programs I will be mentioning.
- Trillian 3.1 Basic
- Yahoo! Messenger
- Google Talk
- AIM Triton
Trillian 3.1 Basic
Pros: This program for me has long since been a favorite. I have been using it since it came out (or so it seems). There are several really cool features and reasons to use this IM program. The best feature of all hands down has to be the ability to use AIM, Y!, ICQ, MSN, Google Talk, and IRC. There are also numerous skins that can be downloaded for FREE (also a favorite feature of mine).
Cons: As with any program there will be some glitches. A friend of mine had to stop using it, because he was not receving all the messages that were sent to him. There was no pattern as to why, or any particular reason we could narrow down. Within the last few days I have noticed that when I was typing any message there was a second or two pause while I was typing. Now that doesn’t sound too bad, but when you type over 70 words a minute one to two seconds is a whole sentence that you are typing and not seeing appear until the ‘pause’ is passed. I checked that my resources were working fine, connection was good, and program was up to date. To no avail it was still happening. I will be trying it again soon to see if it was just a wierd glitch based on date (something mentioned about that on their forums).
Yahoo! Messenger
Pros: Yahoo is continuously suprising me with quality products, whether it be the searching, publisher network, and lately their messenger. I like their interface, the ease of use, and everything. Very functional, the voice chat feature is far superior to most other voice chats that I have used. Even their video works flawlessly so far too. I haven’t had a chance to really play around too much but am looking forward to experimenting more soon.
Cons: The only con I have to say about this one is the lack of users. Most people are using another messaging system and are not on Yahoo. I have very few friends using Y!. I wish it were more as it is one of the finest quality programs for messaging to date.
Google Talk
Pros: I was pretty excited to try out this program when it first was launched. I downloaded it, tried it out and found that its simplicity is very nice. I very much liked the smooth transitions from message window to message window. I thought the user list was very nice, and the email notification was also very good. I do think it is lacking in some of the better features that AIM, Y!, ICQ, and MSN already have. I think this is the program that has the biggest potential as they have all the others to mimic and improve on.
Cons: Like the Yahoo con, there are very few people who have and use this as their messaging system. So for me it is just another one open.
AIM Triton
Pros: I just downloaded this yesterday and I must say: WOW. I was very impressed. AIM has come a long way. After a slight learning curve on how to manage a few of the features (as they have moved around) I was off and running with ease. There new version, Triton, is by far their best version. They have taken the sleekness of the Google Talk IM window, the look & feel of the Yahoo messenger, and the versatility of their previous AIM and bundled it into Triton. It has a singular window for all the open conversations, where the one in focus is on the forefront, and all the others are visible with typing and new message indicators in a bar on the left. When you go from one conversation to the next they slide in and out similar to Google fading. I also like the fact that the conversations are auto logged (contrary to any of their other versions) right there in the window, which makes for an easy way to not get confused with what you said to who (admit it we all forget from time to time). There is also features which allow for an address book which I believe syncs with Outlook. I have not had a chance to play with this and am not really sure I want to, but the feature is neat. I was blown away with this, especially from AOL.
Cons: There are really only two pet peeves I have. First are the ads that MUST be either on the buddy list window or in the messaging window. Second is the fact that when you install it you MUST install an AOL Explorer, their verison of a web browser. This option can not be turned off, and you can not remove it after the installation. They also force you to use it when you click any links from within their program (like buddy icons, expressions, etc).
Sign up, IM, and talk often.
Till Then…
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