I read somewhere that severe sleep deprivation is the same as being drunk. I believe it. I’ve been working on a project that is close to its deadline and is taking longer than planned. Naturally, I cut out sleep to get it done. But staring at a screen and living off bottled water and chips is taking its toll on my brain.
Catch 22: If I take a nap, I won’t get any work done and I won’t be able to sleep because I’ll be thinking of how unproductive napping seems. If I don’t take a nap, then I babble about it on my blog and develop a hatred towards css/html editing.
I think a cookie would make everything better.
I’ve been doing a little bit of freelancing and decided notepad isn’t going to cut it as a time tracker for very long. I did some quick research and tried Cashboard for a few minutes. I tried to finalize an invoice and kept getting an error message. In addition, the layout was confusing and visually bland.
Trying to keep it cheap, I found Time59 that is free for 30 days then will be $19.95/year as opposed to other sites that charge that much per month. Within a few minutes I had entered time spent on an old project and created an invoice. It also keeps track of my clients, expenses, and accounts receivable. If I get fancy, it also integrates with QuickBooks. Mad props to Time59 so far.
Fellow freelancers, what do you use to track time and money?
Shameless plug: If you or someone you know needs some print or design work done, holla!
Okay, so I admittedly liked heynina.com as soon as I thought of it.* I consider it an impulse buy even though it took a little over 24 hours to finally pay for it. Chantanapummas take their purchases seriously. We’re complicated people.
So it’s heynina.com for at least a year. For now, it will be a contact point for the graphic design freelancing I’d like to do. The blog will stay at theignition.net/blog until I figure out if I want the trouble of moving it over.
There’s just a placeholder for the moment until I finish a few projects. Somehow I have to become an expert in php in a few days. Just so I can sleep better. And make some $$$ when I wake up.
*The tone of voice I hear when I think of “Hey Nina” is one that suggests that a big favor is needed from me, usually to the tune of “my computer is broken.” You could say I hear this a lot.
Not so much physically, but mentally.
The creative part of mind has been jumpstarted by a few projects that have landed in my lap. You know, the part of my mind that was molded and sculpted and awarded a degree from Texas Tech a few years ago? Yeah, it’s still there. Lots of dust. Layers of dust. But it’s still alive.
Within the month, I’ve designed a t-shirt, a logo, proposed three different website redesigns, converted a Wordpress site into plain html/css, and am currently working on redeveloping a personal site to promote my design services. (If you go to plain ol’ theignition.net, you can see what I created two years ago.) I think I’ve nailed a personal logo for now, I just have to decide on a domain name. Oh. And design the entire site.
These are on the brainstorming table for domain names (and if you jack these, I will shake my fist at you!) Just imagine these phrases with .com or .net after them and let me know which ones you like. Or maybe suggest some. I’m aiming for professional, but maybe with a bit of personality. My first choice would be ninachantanapumma.com but I don’t think I’ll win any business that way.
ninac
justnina
ninaforshort
heynina
ninalonglastname
callmenina
seeninawork
ninadesignmesomethingnowdangit
Okay, the last one is a joke. I need to go to bed. I have some potential clients I’ll be meeting with tomorrow, so I need my neurons firing full power. New season, new season.
p.s. - If you or someone you know suffers from “graphic design deficiency,” I’m available for print and web design!
