As great as technology is, when it comes to finding the time to completely immerse yourself in your work, let’s face it – the same technology we depend on can just as quickly turn into a major hindrance. Being a web designer, the very nature of my job requires that I spend the majority of my workday online – which makes it that much more important that I take extra care not to get easily sidetracked.

While the suggestions below are mostly common sense, and quite frankly nothing you probably haven’t already heard, sometimes you need a bit of a reminder – myself included! These are all tried and true tricks that work, as long as you commit yourself to sticking to them.

A good friend of mine recently decided to start-up her own business, and asked me if there were any web sites or blogs that I recommend she read.

I’m currently subscribed to approximately 40 blogs relating to small business, blogging, marketing, etc. Although I love them all, some are more highly regarded as great resources on these topics.

The cream of the crop so to speak…

Now, this isn’t a definitive list, as it’s all subject to personal opinion, if you know what I mean. There are obviously a LOT more blogs than the ones listed below, and many of these actually cross-over between different categories – although I did attempt to place them in the most applicable spot…

Anyway, these are the blogs that I personally refer to the most. Whether it is to read the latest post, or search through the archives for something specific, you can often find me on these sites. They are the “must reads” on my feed reader.

I read a great post on Freelance Folder today: How to Balance Freelancing with a Full Time Job Without Burning Out by Michael Martine of Remarkablogger.

This article is of particular interest to me since…. well, I am a freelancer / small business owner who also has a full time job. I have to tell you, it can be stressful at times! I’ve managed well so far but I realize that it is a very delicate juggling act to successfully manage two careers and a family, without burning out!

A Small Snippet from the Article

It is possible to effectively balance your full-time job with freelancing – without going insane or burning out. I do it, and in this post, I’ll tell you how you can, too. Many of us begin freelancing while we are still employed in full-time jobs.

Here are some requirements and tips for staying sane while working the 9-5 and freelancing on the side.

• Get help from others
• Calculate your total work and billable hours
• Become an efficiency ninja
• Take care of yourself
• Write blog posts in advance
• Keep your two jobs separated
• Take mini vacations

Juggling Act

If you’re facing a daily juggling act like I am, I highly recommend heading over to Freelance Folder to read the full article. Michael makes several good points. One in particular I know I need to focus more on is “Take care of yourself” – I know sleep is the first thing to go when I’m facing multiple deadlines, and is likely the thing that’s going to burn me out the quickest (I live for weekends when I can actually get 7 hours of sleep – 8 if I’m lucky!)

The information on calculating your work time and billable hours are very important, as of course, are the tips on efficiency. I also like the suggestions on writing blog posts in advance. This is something I’m only now finally starting to do…

Reader Suggestions

I hope you’ll head over to the original article. I made a few comments there, and am sure the post will receive many more reader comments and suggestions, as well, which I am very interested in reading about. Anything to help a girl out, right?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject, whether here or over at Freelance Folder. Is there anything you feel is most important when juggling both a full-time and freelance career, and in many cases, a family too?

I recently came across a 3 part series of posts on SparkPlugging about organizing your office paperwork. These are guest posts by Brandie Kajino of the Organize. Simplify. Transform Blog, and I am so thankful for them!

A small quote from the introductory post…

First, let’s talk about what “organized” means. Do you hate to file? Me too! So, first of all I’m going to put holes in an widely held organizing misconception: “Organized” does NOT mean perfectly labeled, color coded files, obsessively cleared desktops, or even neatness for that matter! (I’ll pause a moment so you can catch your breath.)

So, if “organized” doesn’t mean your space looks like a magazine layout, what does it mean? It simply means you can find what you need in less than 5 minutes. How cool is that? Freeing, right?

Joshua Clanton recently asked me to submit a haiku on productivity, for his blog.

I’m honored that he asked me, as I am in great company – including Naomi from IttyBiz, both Shane and Peter from the Shane and Peter Blog, Skellie from Skelliewag / Anywired, and Leo from Zen Habits (who inspired the post), as well as many more amazing bloggers!

Although I write a lot on this blog, I’m NOT a writer per-se. And poetry (in this case haiku) does not come easily for me. I’m quite indecisive, to boot, so I ended up with four little poems to submit. I was finally able to narrow it down to two, though.

One of my primary goals for 2008 is to create a healthy work / life balance.

Considering that I run my own web design business while also being employed full time, it often seems that all I do is work. On average, I’d say that I work on average, 60-70 hours a week. I’m sure there are many entrepreneurs, freelancers and work-at-home individuals in the same boat… especially other work-at-home-mom’s and work-at-home-dad’s.

How do I find the time to get so much work done, while still caring for my child and spending time with my spouse… an add to that attempting to maintain a (somewhat) clean household, etc.?

It can all get quite a bit overwhelming!

Below are a few articles I’ve found relating to time management, productivity, and the work / life balance.

One of my favorite parts of Fly Lady is Anti-Procrastination Day. They have this regularly on Wednesdays. I figure this would be a good motivational tool for myself, and hopefully for others!

Goodness knows I can procrastinate with the best of them, lol.

The idea behind Anti-Procrastination Day is that you take one item that you have been putting off – and finally just sit down and Get It Done!

I recently came across the Work It Mom! web site. It’s a great resource for business moms – a networking site where you can ask and answer questions, post in forums, read blogs, etc.

They also allow you to submit articles to be posted on their site. This can be a brand new article, or one you’ve previously written.

Well, I submitted my Time Management: Setting Deadlines post – and within a matter of minutes, it was published here.

The number one bit of advice I can offer? Be REALISTIC!

I cannot stress enough how important it is to be realistic when setting deadlines for yourself and especially for clients. I have a new prospect and had to fight hard to resist the urge to tell them that I’ll have a proposal for them prepared within a few days. That’s normally what I would have done – then I’d end up spending the next two days up all night working on it – stressing over it – just to meet this short deadline that I gave myself. But why? What’s the point in the added headache and stress?

I just came across another great article about emails – specifically productivity as far as writing and sending emails.

• Wired How To’s: Write a Perfect Email

I’m personally guilty of writing more than a few book-length emails – one of the big tips in this post is to keep it short! I will definitely be incorporating some of these suggestions into my regular email writing habits.