His post really got me thinking about what all I do to stay busy!  What kind of things do I fill my day with in order to stay busy, to feel successful and feel some since of self-worth?  Tim talks about doing things to the point of either not being successful or only semi-successful and that just sent my mind running.

I consider myself to be successful, there is no question about that.  Granted, I haven’t won any kind of public reward, scored an Oscar, been featured in the news, or even had a news article written about me.  But I do believe that the changes I have been able to make in people’s lives make everything worth it.  If that involves volunteering my time, working to make something better and more efficient at work, helping someone with a website or design, being an ear just to listen, or even something as simple as giving advice.

I know that Tim’s article was not about reflecting on your self-worth nor do I think it suggested that we should all sit back and have self-pity or try and justify the things that we do.  But I believe his article made me STOP and think about where I spend my “free” time and even what I spend my “work” or “normal” time focusing on. I agree with a lot of what Tim talks about in many of his posts.  Tim has written a few articles about not multitasking, closing your email, and even being mindful of your time.  He has some great ideas but frankly I have taken little time to head any of his advice.

I’m thinking I just might try a few of these ideas and see how life changes for me.

What kind of things are you doing that make you busy that you might be able to change?

One of the daily obstacals we face is meeting the design standards to ensure that our e-mails show up, or render, correctly on all the e-mail clients out there.  It’s no small undertaking and we are constantly haveing to keep up with new standards and clients that are making changes to their email platforms.  The web based e-mail systems like Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! are just a few the programs that able to change their standards and rendering systems on the fly.  It’s has been constant headahe that we face day in and day out.

There is a group of people that have started the Email Standards Project, that are working to help set the standard for e-mails and e-mail clients.  It’s an uphill battle, but they are trying to connect directly with team members from the development teams of the web and client based programs as well as spread the word in the design community about these standards.

If you are a designer or work for one of the major clients, please be sure to visit the project to read more about their effots.