By Karen Kleinman
I am by nature left-brained. I like hard facts, solid numbers, structured time frames, and everything in order and in its place. Things one needs to have to analyze risk assessments and make appropriate decisions. This is why I make lists, and also why I can't ever find a schedule or planner book I like - all of the ones I've looked at in stores just don't fit my needs.
I want to be more right-brained. Art, design, and creating give me an accomplished satisfaction in life. I'm guilty of falling in love with the idea of being an artist, doing artist things, and living the artist life.
It's a fairytale that my left-brain can't fully embrace. My artistic talents aren't lacking, but they aren't where I think they should be. So when I can find the time, I try to live my best artist life and do artist activities. I like things to be beautiful and functional. This is why I've decided to take up the challenge to create my own planner design.
I also think that this is why I work in the profession I do, it's both structured and creative.
However; just recently, my job duties have shifted. I am now working mainly on websites - client websites and our own company affiliated websites. The change has been challenging, and a couple of things I have come across on both the company's sites and quite a few customer sites are:
The elements of the sites not having a proper place to live (this is the right-brain talking) and,
The functionality of the site not having those elements work how they should (this is the left-brain speaking), but in the grand scheme of things – it's two sides of the same coin (the left-brain and right-brain are screaming at each other).
The solutions for these problems are simple on the outside – planning (when the left-brain and the right-brain sit down for negotiations). But, the real progress of the solution is finding out what specifically you want to go on your webpages and where on your webpages it should live. Don't forget to incorporate feeding your website!
The easiest way to plan this out is to literally take out a sheet of paper and map out your website, while noting how it is supposed to function.
For example:
Does the slider, which takes up the most space at the top of your website's front page, filter through your blog articles automatically or do you have to change them manually? Can the slider be set to automatically skip a certain number of blog posts and then start listing them down below the slider in a more compact and easily navigable list?
You want to make your website easy to view for your readers (right-brain demand), but you also want the workflow to be uncomplicated to keep your site updated and fresh (left-brain demand).
You want the atmosphere of your site and information presented to feel wholesome and inviting (a right-brain desire), while also having the proper formatting and keywords for SEO (a left-brain need).
When the right-brain and the left-brain come together, they negotiate a website that will attract more readers and keep them coming back to your website.