Hey speedy,
slow yourself down:

A cautionary tale of mystery, intrigue and stupidity.

I’ve been designing in turbo mode for too long. Yes turbo mode.

You see in college they seemed to forget to tell me that in the real world you need to track your time on projects. What’s worse is they didn’t tell me that this is the basis for how I would get paid.

In a natural progression, I sped up my work flow to accommodate for low budgets and high return. I got faster and faster and faster. I got rewarded for this speed so I went even faster and it has caught up to me.

The vast past of fast excuses (say that 5 times fast)

I can sit here and say that this all stems from the client but that would be letting myself off way too easy. I have had the tendency to not say no since I started freelancing. Accepting all time lines, all budgets, and all projects. This inevitably lead to several damaging problems.

I became overwhelmed and I didn’t even know it.

I had too many projects and not enough time in the day to do them. Because of all of the projects that I had going on at once, none of them got my full attention. I was lacking focus that I needed.

The timing was all wrong.

Through out all of this, I had to learn how to time myself while designing which is not a very easy task. I was able to figure out an easy way but it wasn’t right for me. The system I had in place made me feel paranoid, rushed and a bit queasy. It only enhanced the need to rush though the design process.

Harmful effects

I foolishly dug myself a deeper and deeper hole. I was harming my designs, my growth and my frail design ego. The designs that I was producing lacked any kind of quality. The time for fine details that can take a design to the next level had vanished in favor of speed. Several silly mistakes, especially spelling errors which I am predisposed to make, kept slipping out in production.

I was doing work for people that wanted a fast and cheap solution rather than a higher quality solution. They didn’t really value the design I was doing. The projects that I was getting wasn’t anything I could put in my portfolio and they weren’t the type of projects I wanted to be doing.

Righting the ship

During this soul crushing process, I believed everything was alright. The light finally turned on and I saw what was happening and let me tell you it was not fun getting hit with a ton of bricks.

I needed to set a new pace. I need to balance the quality with the quantity. I need to say NO to projects, time lines and budgets. I need to pay attention to the details and prevent stupid mistakes.

In the last few months, I have been able to create a better balance. I have peeled back the amount of work I am doing at one time. I have, at the very least, doubled the amount of time I would give for an estimate. The projects that I have been working on are more interesting and more enjoyable. I feel like I am producing better quality work for clients that value what I do.

Of course its not all honkey-dorey. I know what I was doing wrong, I know where I would like to be and what I want to work on. I still have more head way to make but its a good start.

Colophon:

Titles set in the loverly Deva Ideal by DizajnDesign and implemented by Typekit. Special thanks to Radiohead for providing the sound track for design.

Disclaimer:

Parts of the story could be embellished for dramatic effect.

Posted on December 15th, 2009 By Kyle Fiedler

7 awesome responses

  1. Design Informer

    15Dec09
    3:09pm

    Well said Kyle. I actually went through the same thing when I was freelancing full-time. I was nervous that I wouldn’t make enough money so I just took on project after project with no regards to time restraints, job quality, and actually meaningful designs. I churned out sites after sites that weren’t fit to be in my portfolio.

    These last few months, I have been clamping down on this as well. I told myself that I would actually turn down jobs if I was busy, or at least delay them for later, and I even raised my prices a bit, just to shoo off those who were interested in a quickie-fix for their website.

    Nice post layout but even better article! :)

  2. Jeremy Girard

    15Dec09
    11:07pm

    This is something I am sure all Web designers who have freelanced can identify with.

    I think a recent tweet I read from John Maeda is appropriate here:

    “Slow gets things done faster in the end. Because they get done right the first time.”

  3. Kevin Holesh

    16Dec09
    2:36am

    This really struck a nerve with me. I’ve been taking on more freelance clients and I feel this constant downward pressure for my prices and hours.

    “How can I get a discount on that?”

    “If I pay up front, could you give me a 10% discount?”

    “What if I extend the deadline. Will that make it cheaper?”

    I inevitably give in to get the gig, but I regret it later. I rush to complete the project in the set amount of time instead of giving it the attention to detail it deserves.

    I might try what you suggested and double my hours on the next quote. Maybe then I’ll produce a long lasting design that I’d be proud to put in my portfolio.

  4. Kyle

    16Dec09
    12:10pm

    @kevin One thing I never did was give a discount unless they were friends or family. If the client wanted cheeper, I just spent less time on the project giving them a less of product/service.

    I don’t want to indulge the type of client that is looking and asking for a discount or deal. If you do give a discount it should be you offering it, not them asking for it.

    Raising your estimates and prices is just a way to weed out the good clients from the bad. Turning down some clients will let you focus your time on either your current relationships or finding new valuable ones.

    Im not freelancing full time so it’s easy for me to say all this when the roof on my head isn’t depending on this work.

  5. Kevin Holesh

    16Dec09
    2:02pm

    Thanks for the advice, Kyle.

    I’m still at that stage where I’m working to put that roof over my head, but I’m confident in my ability to do that so I’ll soon be able to weed out the bad clients, as you said.

    I’ll try not giving anymore discounts and raising my estimates to see if I’m a) happier and b) more profitable and c) less stressed out.

    Your awesome writing and articles designs have inspired me to do better quality work. Keep up the great work, Kyle!

  6. Anonymous

    13May10
    10:33am

    [...] Slow down, you’re a freelancer. Great article on why slowing down has the added benefit of doing great [...]

  7. 10 examples of beautiful custom designed posts

    01Jul10
    10:12am

    [...] Kyle Fielder: Hey speedy, slow yourself down [...]

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