| Most of us have heard this term. It is defined as | | | | got from a fellow developer was to just keep a |
| "A Small spirit that lives inside all living things. In | | | | notebook next to you. If you do think of |
| times of extreme emotion, it leaves the body". | | | | something. Instead of stopping what you are |
| If you are having a bad day somebody may | | | | doing just make a note of it and continue on. I |
| offer to scare your Bajesus for you. Generally, | | | | know I'm guilty of being in the middle of |
| that's not a good thing. But most often we scare | | | | something, getting distracted, and having trouble |
| the Bajesus out of ourselves. For the purposes of | | | | remembering what I was working on before the |
| this article I hope to help you keep your Bajesus | | | | phone call, etc. |
| calm. He does scare easy and we don't want him | | | | Then on a note pad, and I emphasize a note pad, |
| her to leave us when we need him. | | | | as in paper. I have two monitors, and I still don't |
| I think this would work for any project, but as a | | | | have enough room for all the windows I have |
| web designer it's easiest use a web project as an | | | | open. Having some scratch paper will make it a lot |
| example. | | | | easier to make notes. Navigating to yet another |
| When I first start a project, I usually have very | | | | window and typing the note is a pain. |
| little to go on. The reason someone has hired a | | | | From there, I usually make an outline of all the |
| web designer is usually because they can't do it | | | | pages for the site and determine which pages will |
| themselves. Especially, in the case of small | | | | need to be linked to from the home page. My |
| businesses. | | | | next post will probably be about completing a web |
| I used to make two major mistakes when I first | | | | project step by step, but that's too much to go |
| started. One spending too much time on looking | | | | into here. |
| at the big picture. What do I mean by that? Of | | | | You will have to find the right balance for you |
| course you want to keep the end goal in mind. | | | | between speed and testing. For me I usually don't |
| But if you spend too much time thinking of | | | | type more than 50 lines of code without reloading |
| everything that has to be done, you may never | | | | the page and testing it. |
| get started. So after taking a little time to get an | | | | As I said, I think this process works well for any |
| idea, I think it's best to just start working on it | | | | project that requires multiple steps. For web |
| and stop thinking about it. | | | | design, it is something you have probably already |
| The second common mistake is almost the | | | | been through the hard way. If you are a beginner |
| opposite of the first. You don't take enough time | | | | though, avoid either getting overwhelmed by |
| to get the basic concept of the project and you | | | | thinking to long about how complicated the site is, |
| open up your favorite HTML editor and type out | | | | or to just try to create it all in on fell swoop, only |
| the code for the entire page and then go see | | | | to end up starting over, or spending hours, |
| what it looks like. Oops. I bet you made a mistake | | | | correcting that hard to find mistake in the code. |
| somewhere in the code. Now you have 100s of | | | | A couple more common sense tips that I often |
| lines of code and little or no idea why it doesn't | | | | forget are to: |
| look or work like it should. And just like an old | | | | Know when to call it a day. You know when you |
| house, it may be best to get rid of it and start | | | | are too tired to perform. If you keep going |
| over. | | | | because of a deadline or some self imposed time |
| To me, starting all over is the worst. Sometimes, | | | | limit, you will probably do more damage than |
| if it's just a project for myself, it's enough for me | | | | good. |
| to drop it and just never get it done. So I | | | | Take breaks. Once again, I'm guilty of spending |
| definitely want to avoid that. | | | | hours at a time in front of the computer. If I just |
| The good news is there is a happy middle ground | | | | take a few minutes every couple of hours to |
| for everyone. | | | | practice putting or take a bike ride, or whatever |
| For instance, to avoid thinking about the big | | | | you can think of, it really helps me recharge. As |
| picture too much, I dive right in and make a | | | | an added bonus, I often catch mistakes I would |
| skeleton of the site. Something like this: | | | | of missed by taking a break and getting a fresh |
| It's just an image but it keeps me focused on the | | | | look at the site or application. |
| big picture without getting bogged down in the | | | | Hope this is helpful. |
| details of the new site too much. A great tip I | | | | |