Everyday I’m Hustlin print, $29.99 at Felt & Wire Shop.
Happy Friday!
- If anyone understands time management, it’s working mothers. Joanna at A Cup of Jo rounded up seven top bloggers and asked how they juggled it all.
- Love John C. Jay’s 10 Lessons for Young Designers (it’s valuable advice for anyone).
- Here are three websites that really impressed me with their blogging/graphic design tutorials & freebies: Pugly Pixel, Smashing Magazine, & Blog.SpoonGraphics.
Great advice:
“Have more than one dream and take opportunities when they arise. My story is often framed as “follow your dreams and everything will work out,” but I had other dreams before Grammar Girl that didn’t work out. I produced a science podcast that I enjoyed, but it wasn’t going anywhere. I experimented with a new idea — Grammar Girl — and when it took off, I ran with it. I’ve seen people get completely derailed when they have too much invested in a single dream that falters. Life rarely follows the path you think it’s going to follow. You’re more likely to find success if you’re open-minded and flexible.
Here are some “Day in the Life”-type posts that offer insight into less typical careers:
- Elsie at A Beautiful Mess described what it’s like to own a vintage store.
- I love Sometimes Sweet’s “9 to 5” column. It features jobs that I can see myself doing, but don’t know a ton about (the last three profiles were of an indie bookstore owner, a flight attendant, and a fashion designer).
- Steve Olson wrote about how one former bookseller makes a good living selling books online from home.
- It hasn’t been updated in a while, but I always enjoy Gala Darling’s more outlandish “I Want to Be” column (past profiled careers include a beauty queen, a dominatrix, and a rock star).
Pottery Barn home office (image via All Things Lovely, similar products available here).
Here are recommendations for boosting your productivity:
- Black Eiffel lists her five favorite digital productivity tools (I’ve tried Wunderlist, and it’s cool).
- More apps and productivity advice from Etsy’s Laura (that Sleepcycle app sounds amazing…).
- Design*Sponge’s “Biz Ladies” column wrote about “How to Organize Your Life With Online Tools.
Finally, a good reminder for creatives:
“My personal advice for young artists/designers is to start building a collection of resources and inspiration that is not from the internet. Step away from the computer. Go to the library, bookstore, vintage shop or flea market and have a browse. […] Too much of the work that is floating around online right now looks exactly the same. Social networks can be great for dispersing information and for widening your visual library. But they can also cripple your creativity if you don’t take what you find and do something different to make it your own.”
Have a great weekend!