What do you do when you have eight projects that need to get done at the same time?

I?m not a very good multi-tasker. Yeah, I admit it. I can try doing more than one thing at a time, like talk on the phone and type an email. But the truth is, I?m probably only half listening to the person on the other end and the email I?m typing probably doesn?t make sense. So really, instead of doing two things at once, I did neither one. At least not well.

Photo by GinnyLynni.

I can only focus on one thing at a time. I can usually do one unfocused activity (chewing gum, listen to music, doodle) while doing a focused task (emailing, designing, programming), but this is the extent of it. There are a lot of people who say they can multi-task, but have you ever been on the other end of phone of a person typing an email. Yeah, they aren?t paying attention to you unless you blurt out a key word like ?fire? or ?I?m pregnant? (I recommend trying this, I bet the person responds with ?Wait, what?? because they weren?t listening before that moment). I don?t know if other people?s focus can be on more than one thing at once, but I?m sure mine can not.

So what do I try to do when I have eight projects that need to get done at the same time? I start with the most urgent/important and work my way down the list. If I can, I ask for help. If I have to, I?ll stay later to get it finished. I can really only do one thing (well) at a time.

When you get through your list of things to do (or need a break), check us out at www.thinkmoxie.com or follow us on twitter.com/thinkmoxie.

? Post written by Cristy Wiza.

Everyone here at Moxie has a passion for design. For taking an idea and making it reality. For seeing a customer succeed, products take flight, businesses get noticed. But we also have a passion for helping others in need. With our creative skills, we?ve had the opportunity to help many local, national and international organizations.

HOPE Pregnancy Resource Center Web Site

One of our favorite local organizations is HOPE Pregnancy Center. We?ve had the honor of working with them over the last 4 years. We?ve helped tweak their logo and design (and redesign) brochures. We?ve created beautiful invitations to yearly banquets and outdoor retreats. But today, I?d like to introduce you to their web site.

Originally the site was designed back in 2006, but as the site grew and content became key, we saw a need to revamp it again in 2008. The target audience remained the same, women with crisis pregnancies in their late teens to early 30?s, but we didn?t want the design to be too feminine. HOPE?s web site is also a great source of information and support for families and fathers. The design had to be soft and welcoming, yet inviting to men as well. Not an easy task!
And so, the new HOPE web site was born. And it?s been a huge success. Information is at your finger tips, you can quickly contact them (and they will contact you back!) and they even have a Facebook group. So check them out, contact them if you or someone you know in the Central WI area needs assistance. And if you are able, they always have a need for donations.

HOPE Pregnancy Resource Center - Donate Page

Here are Moxie, we design to help others, to help you and to help fill our hearts with happiness. If you or someone you know is looking for a creative team that cares, please contact us! At Moxie, we are here to serve our customers, to help YOU SUCCEED!

One of the hardest and most frustrating things that we do as designers are estimates. Ugh?the dreaded task of trying to pin down the value and time limit for the work that we create. Yes, it?s a necessary evil, but that doesn?t mean we have to like it!

It is nearly impossible to know beforehand how long a project will take, and that is something that customers often have a difficult time understanding. It varies depending upon the subject matter, the type of work being done and how creative or off-the-wall it needs to be. Oh, but that?s just the beginning. There are so many, may other factors to take into consideration, and a lot of it depends on the customer themselves. How many people, both creatives and customers (the dreaded designed-by-committee) will be involved? How many rounds of changes do they expect to go through? How many discussions, meetings or phone conferences are required during the creative process?  Will all content be available at the start of the project or will it trickle in as time goes on? Does the web site need to be programmed in a specific language or way to meet the IT departments requirements? Are they expecting the logo to be redesigned as part of the brochure project? Customers sometimes have expectations that we aren?t aware of during the estimating process, which is why an estimate is really, just a (somewhat) educated guess.

So bear with us as we spend a day or two (or five) as we review the project scope, try to get inside your head and figure out what your expectations are. And after all that, put a number on it. I know, it?s a daunting task.

If you are looking for a team that has the art of estimating refined, we are the team for you! Visit our web site to find what we do, and how WE CAN HELP YOU.