Howdy Do It came from “how do you do It,” the question Ellie & Margot found themselves asking about their freelance lifestyles, and so Howdy Do It was born, a column about the things we do to keep ourselves organized, inspired and on track. Right now, Howdy is only making sporadic appearances here on Pitch, but you can read all of Ellie’s previous posts here and my previous posts here on Mint.

Of course, the floor is still open for discussion on our formspring, so feel free to ask us any related questions if you are inclined.
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Happy Friday friends! Here’s a special edition of Howdy for you in honor of my birthday today. It’s a mini mix! Why so small you ask? The idea is that the 28-minute mix gives you a short period of total concentration on one task. It’s loosely based off the Pomodoro Technique, which is all about breaking up your time with short bursts of intense focus. So far I’ve been finding it especially helpful at the end of the day when I’m running on fumes, or when I find myself procrastinating on a task, like email, that can suck a whole day away if I’m not careful. Plus I like that this system doesn’t expect you to be on task all day long so I am allowed to balance in my own time here and there.

Typically for Howdy mixes (previously posted here) I favor a more up-tempo feel, something that’s pretty energetic. I’ve been on a hip-hop/soul/electronic kick these days so this particular mix reflects that.

1. 1969 / Boards Of Canada
2. Walk In The Sky (Feat. Bajka) / Bonobo
3. Weapon Of Choice / Fatboy Slim
4. Kaili / Caribou
5. Cellphone’s Dead / Beck
6 . Don’t Gotta Work It Out / Fitz & The Tantrums

Download Directions:
It’s a .zip file (virus free, I promise) which contains a folder of the songs and an import playlist file. First drag the songs to your music library and then import the playlist (File>Library>Import Playlist). It will make you a nice little list in your iTunes and you should be good to go.

That’s it from me today, I’m going to go celebrate! Chad got me a super cute purse from this chick and it’s got convertible straps for biking so we’re going to test it out.

Howdy Do It came from “how do you do It,” the question Ellie & Margot found themselves asking about their freelance lifestyles, and so Howdy Do It was born, a weekly column about the things we do to keep ourselves organized, inspired and on track. Right now, Howdy is only making sporadic appearances here on Pitch, but you can read all of Ellie’s previous posts here and my previous posts here on Mint.

Of course, the floor is still open for discussion on our formspring, so feel free to ask us any related questions if you are inclined.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Last week I tagged along with my friend Ben on a trip to Best Buy. I was in the mood for a little retail therapy and I figured I might as well look over their external hard drive selection because I still hadn’t managed to replace the faulty one I’d gotten off Amazon a few months ago. Yes, months. (Confession time: at this point I hadn’t backed up my work life in…oh, EVER). So this, my friends, was terribly overdue. I’d read enough reviews to have a rough idea what I wanted, but I clearly was having trouble pulling the trigger so I was thinking going in person would inspire me to actually come home with one. So after accosting Best Buy Dude and peppering him with way more hard drive-related questions than he expected, we settled on a Western Digital Mac-formatted 500gig drive.* I was happy enough to pay the listed price of $139, but Ben pulled out his phone (a Droid, in case anyone cares) and scanned the box’s bar code because we’re nerds and wanted to see if it was cheaper elsewhere.

That’s when things got more interesting. Turns out the hard drive was listed at $99 on BestBuy.com. Best Buy doesn’t price match their website, we were informed, but they have a pickup in-store option so technically I could buy it online and walk out of the store with it right there. What?! It’s a perfectly acceptable loophole that saved me 40 bones! Definitely made shopping way more fun as I gleefully tapped in my credit card number and walked out of the store 15 minutes later with the very same drive I’d bought with the phone. No lines, no shipping, no fuss.

Ben used Barcode Scanner on his Droid, but RedLaser is a similar app for the iPhone and it’s currently 50% off at ¢99. I’m totally playing this game now anytime I can. It’s like the modern-day equivalent of clipping coupons! Woohoo!

*Now that I’ve had a chance to break in and use the new hard drive, I will say I like it very much. The only caveat is the stupid additional software which I will never use that comes with the drive and it takes up 45gigs of space, making the advertised 500gigs is really only 456.98. And it’s written into the firmware of the drive which means there’s no amount of hacking will remove it entirely. So, so unnecessary. I only bought it because there are fewer hard drive options that play nice with Macs and I have yet to hear of one that doesn’t come with some type of additional software like this. I just didn’t realize how much space it would hog until I got home and used it, which is kind of a bummer. BUT! At least I have one now, thank goodness. And it is small, not ugly, fast, reliable. I sliced it into two partitions as well, one for archiving old stuff that I don’t need on my laptop anymore, but want to keep around, and the other for use with Time Machine so if my computer DOES crash I have everything else saved in at least one location. Phew! Next on my list is working on getting another back-up location sorted for extra safe measures, but of course that’s a Howdy Do It for another day.

{Photo Credits: Emma Ferguson’s hilarious embroidery}

Howdy Do It came from “how do you do It,” the question Ellie & Margot found themselves asking about their freelance lifestyles, and so Howdy Do It was born, a weekly column about the things we do to keep ourselves organized, inspired and on track. Right now, Howdy is only making sporadic appearances here on Pitch, but you can read all of Ellie’s previous posts here and my previous posts here on Mint.

Of course, the floor is still open for discussion on our formspring, so feel free to ask us any related questions if you are inclined.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So you may have caught word that Ellie’s taking a little break from Howdy Do It for awhile (read more here). I completely support and agree with her decision for myself too. Pretty sure neither one of us knew what a time commitment it would become at the beginning we we launched! However, I don’t have particular plans to shelve the whole project for eternity. As it turns out, I kind of missed sitting down and gathering my thoughts on my work habits, reflecting on the work week and actively trying to teach myself improvement in a more formal way. Plus, it’s helped me connect a lot more with you guys, not to mention the spike in traffic each Monday from Mint, for which I’m hugely grateful too. So I’m going to do my best to continue, though I know it more tricky as a solo effort. And who knows, maybe there will be more from both of us sooner rather than later!

So appropriately enough, here’s an encouraging 5-min Etsy film about animal photographer Sharon Montrose, spied on Darling Dexter a while back. It’s basically how Sharon was able to re-invent her career and take it in a new, better direction. Sure, it’s the same narrative we’ve all heard about being passionate and following your heart, but something about actually watching a person talk through their unique process and how they got to where they are is what I find affecting about this sort of thing. Plus Sharon’s work is pretty cool too! Enjoy.

Howdy Do It came from “how do you do It,” the question Ellie & Margot found themselves asking about their freelance lifestyles, and so Howdy Do It was born, a weekly column about the things we do to keep ourselves organized, inspired and on track. Ellie will be here each Monday, and Margot will be over on Mint at the same time.

If you have any questions for Margot or Ellie, you can ask them on formspring.
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There are a ton of great online resources for designers, freelancers, and small business owners. Here are a few that have been helpful to me personally:

• Tax info for small businesses & the self-employed
The IRS website isn’t really that scary. In addition to tax info, you can find information on business workshops in your area, get a new business checklist, and find out if what you’re doing is considered a small business or a hobby.

• Printable Forms from Leo on the Loose
Erin Vale has made some forms for you to download and print (for a limited time only, so visit today!). They include a print production checklist, measurement conversion sheet, a MAC quick key reference guide for special characters, and a business mileage tracking sheet.

• Modish Biz Tips
Although the site is no longer being updated, there is a lot of information here on topics like business plans, finding your niche, branding, marketing, plus some interviews with pros.

• Biz Ladies
The Design*Sponge Biz Ladies posts are archived here, and even though I (and probably you) read these posts as they come out, the archives is a great place to check in as you enter new phases with your business.

• Small Business Administration
Online training in topics like finance and accounting, help finding a business mentor, guides for writing your business plan, and info on current events that affect small business owners, like Health Care Reform. Tons of information.

• SCORE
Find a mentor or read articles online for starting, managing, growing, marketing, and financing your business.

• HOW: freelancing
HOW Magazine’s articles for managing your freelance design career.

• Action Method
Behance and Print Magazine created Action Method to help you organize your projects (both personal and business). Right now it’s under $11/month.

• Teux Deux
Online to-do list organized by date.

• AIGA
AIGA is the professional association for design, and on their site you can find average salaries in your area, read the standards for professional practice and ethics, find advice for the emerging designer, inspiration and more.

• Skype
Many freelancers work with clients all over the country, if not the globe. Instead of racking up huge phone bills, I use skype with all my non-local clients. If you both have accounts, the calls are completely free. And the video cam is completely optional.

• Gmail
Seriously. I couldn’t live without gmail, and if you’re not on it I think you should be. Organize documents and spreadsheets (and access them from anywhere) with Google Docs, organize your emails by having specific folders for each client, access your calendar from anywhere, create task (to-do) lists, and send/respond to emails with different email addresses (perfect for people like me who are running 2+ operations).

• Pro Blogger
OK, so this one is actually new to me and I haven’t explored it much yet. From what I can tell, it’s a great resource on becoming a better blogger, and learning how to monetize your site. I’ve got some reading to do!

photo by wonderlane

Howdy Do It came from “how do you do It,” the question Ellie & Margot found themselves asking about their freelance lifestyles, and so Howdy Do It was born, a weekly column about the things we do to keep ourselves organized, inspired and on track. Ellie will be here each Monday, and Margot will be over on Mint at the same time.

If you have any questions for Margot or Ellie, you can ask them on formspring.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Last week I walked into the mail shop near my house to ship some orders. It’s a small, family owned business, and I much prefer it to the Post Office. There are rarely any lines and when I walk in the door, they say, “Hey Ellie!” My favorite mail shop guy was the only one working, and since I was the only one in the shop, I thought I’d ask the owner how he got into the business. Cause if you think about it, owning a mail shop is sort of… different. I mean, you don’t grow up wanting to deal with packages, right?

Turns out the owner of this little mail shop is an industrial engineer, who was laid off about 6 or 7 years ago. He bought the business because it was for sale, and he needed work. Although he had applied and been accepted to great jobs all over the country, he decided that the most important thing to him was not a good salary, or a prestigious job. He had a couple of teenagers in the house, and he knew that moving them across the country for one of these great jobs would be devastating to them. He decided his family was way more important than any job.

And so for the past 6 years, he’s been running this mail shop. He makes just enough for his family to live on, and never has to work more than 30-40 hours, which means he gets to spend a lot of time with his wife and kids. Since he knew I had recently been laid off (and may or may not be able to read minds), he wanted me to understand that work is just work. At the end of the day, it’s really not all that important. His exact words were, “This stuff is just crap, I mean, excuse me, but work is just… it’s just crap. You can’t worry about it.” He wasn’t saying it in a disgruntled way, but more like it just doesn’t matter, not the way other things matter. He said, “you know Ellie, you’ve just got to figure out how to be happy, because happiness, and your family… that’s really all that matters.”

You know how you can hear something from the people you love, and know it, but not know it? And then, you hear it from a stranger, and it’s like… OH. I spent the last week thinking about what the mail man said, and wondering why I worry so much about my job. Of course, it’s important to care about your work, but how much stress and worry is really necessary?

images by Lars Tunbjörks via johanna wallin

So, uh, there obviously wasn’t a Howdy Do It post yesterday. But it’s just for this week, I promise! If you haven’t been following, catch up on Ellie’s previous posts here and mine here. You can also lob us a question on our formspring account too.

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Howdy Do It came from “how do you do It,” the question Ellie & Margot found themselves asking about their freelance lifestyles, and so Howdy Do It was born, a weekly column about the things we do to keep ourselves organized, inspired and on track. Ellie will be here each Monday, and Margot will be over on Mint at the same time.