How I Tackled the Project I Avoided for Years
THE BIG PROJECT
You know those projects you must do, but absolutely dread? They seem so big, so impossible; you just don't know how you will ever fit it into your life. Well, for me, one of those projects was moving my website away from the dying-out Weebly platform, which meant rebuilding it on a new platform.
I have known for years that I needed to make a move away from Weebly, but I put it off, and buried my head in the sand. After a few false starts, I started working on my new website in earnest this spring, and this summer I finally crossed the finish line. I wanted to share what I learned along the way about taking on a big project.
BREAKING IT DOWN
The first thing I did to get started on this project was to go to Claude with the question of what website platform I should migrate to. People understandably have strong feelings about AI; I am just as concerned as others about the larger societal and environmental implications of this new technology. However, for the purposes of this project, I will show you how I used AI to help me move forward.
I have a BFA in graphic design and was a designer for 15 years before starting my organizing business. The creative part of redesigning my website is always the fun part for me and allows me to dust off my design skills; what is harder for me is the technical part of any project. I find Claude very helpful in working through tech challenges, so I first had it point me to potential new platform builders, and I chose Wix.
Then I had it look at my old website, break down the steps to reproduce it, and estimate how long each step would take. It included clear instructions for reconnecting integrations like Mailchimp and Calendly. One tip: I always tell Claude to be brief so it does not go on and on with unnecessary information and cheerleading; generating fewer words requires less processing power.
PLANNING & PLUGGING AWAY
This summer, I set aside a recurring block of several hours a week on my calendar dedicated to the website update. I put my bullet-pointed project breakdown into the notes section of the calendar event. Each time I sat down to work on the new site, I would open up the event and pick the project back up. I would delete tasks as I did them, so I knew where I was in the project. I mostly followed the project breakdown, but not religiously. Sometimes I would not touch the project for weeks; other times I worked on it for days at a time; it really depended on my summer schedule.
OUTSOURCING & FINISHING UP
Once I was done with the design of the website and had recreated all the blog posts, I realized I needed help migrating all of my old blog posts (so links I had out in the world did not break). This felt way beyond my skill level, so (again with the help of Claude writing up a job post) I posted it to Upwork and hired someone to do this for me as well as connect the domain. Then the new site was live!
Celebrating!
So now that my new website is up and running, I don't want to forget an important step... celebrating! We so often run right past our goals without taking a moment to acknowledge all the hard work we put into them. So that's what this blog post is for me. I hope by reading how I tackled a big project, you can see a way through your own big project. If you need a little support, reach out!
With a fresh new look, updated information on my Rewire Your Mind program, and a vastly improved blog feed, I hope you take a look around my new website! I seem to find something new I want to add or update every day, so visit again soon.
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