As much as we’d sometimes like to, drawing a thick line between work life and personal life is impossible. Our work is inherently personal. And our work is a big part of life. So how can we begin to talk about a balance between the two?

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer out there. But it is important to address it. After all, we are a group of crazy, passionate, and creative people, who needs both our heads and our hearts at work. Our personal lives intensely affect the quality of our work. So keeping things in check there will give us the freedom to be more creative and productive in front of the screen or sketchbook (and vice versa). And if you’re in a left-brain mood, studies show that people who work for organizations that provide work/life benefits are more productive and loyal.

We’ve all learned by now how to make a list of priorities and, unfortunately, how easily it gets tossed by the wayside in favor of more pressing daily activities. Don’t get me wrong, doing an exercise in defining your priorities is important, but what about some practical ways to achieve them?

Here are a few ways to become who you want to be and achieve that elusive equilibrium. We are going to focus more on outlining the demands of your personal life, since most of us have career responsibilities that are already fairly well defined.

There are a few things that you need to commit to examining in your personal life to achieve a healthy balance:

1. Your family. Communicate with them as far as their needs and commit to meeting the ones that are at all possible. After all, you keep your family for life.
2. Your health. Schedule blocks of time for physical and mental well being. We all know how essential that is.
3. Your social life. Staying in touch with friends is essential for mental health.
4. Your habits. Be honest with yourself, and set limits on anything you do in excess. This might be work, internet surfing, TV, etc.
5. Yourself. Make “me” time, which is healthy for relaxation and personal reflection.

Now comes the part that might be hard for some of us. Ask for advice from someone close to you; it could be employees, family members, or friends. Have them help you point out anything to change, and then have them help you stick to your plans.

Once you’ve determined the needs of your personal life, consider your work responsibilities. Could you adjust your schedule in any way to balance both sides of the demands? Could you commit to being more productive at work in order to make more time for other healthy pursuits? (Tip: there are lots of productivity posts here!) Talk with your team to develop an environment that accommodates both work and personal development. In the creative environment, everyone will benefit.

Work/life balance might be a bit of a moving target, but the more effort you put into achieving it, the closer you’ll be to achieving it. What’s worked for you in your pursuit toward balance?

I have to lay some ground rules on this post: I am a visual media creator and tech geek. Talking about this stuff gets me cranked up, but it can make other people’s eyes glaze over. So, if you have a passion for image creation and technology, read on; otherwise, you may find that your Facebook status needs updating or there is a book you need to catch up on.

As a photographer and filmmaker I have always been after the “look” in my imagery.  I know a visual image will not stand up without a good story behind it, but I have always tried to create beautiful imagery to go along with the story. When I talk of the “look” in digital motion images, what I mean is that the image looks like traditional motion film. There are many things that give images a film-like quality, but one of the major ones is a shallow depth of field. Shooting with video cameras has a drawback that there is a large depth of field. Almost everything is in focus. Without going into too much of a technical explanation, it has to do with the small sensor size of most digital video cameras. To get this shallow depth of field on one of these video cameras, we would go to great lengths and attach what is called a depth of field or “DOF” adapter. It is basically a device that allows us to use traditional 35mm lenses by attaching these lenses to a box with a spinning ground glass in it onto which the lens focuses its image.  The video camera would then focus onto the ground glass. Sounds confusing, doesn’t it? Well, try lugging one of these set- ups half way around the world, all just to get the “look”. Trust me, it is not an easy thing to carry around.

Well, now to the exciting stuff…

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Author’s note: This is my first real-live blog post, on a real-live  blog. Well actually, this was my first one, but I don’t think it really counts. So here we are, you the reader, and me the writer, and I’m supposed to entertain you. Or inform you. Or even better– make you *think*…

If you’re anything like me, you’re a bit of an artist. Maybe you’re an illustrator, or maybe you take pictures. Or maybe, when you show people your work, it goes something like this: “Did you draw this?” “No.” “Did you take this picture?” “No.” “Well, did you write the words?” “Ummm, no, but it was all my idea.” “So you printed the brochure, then?” “NO.” (an annoyed, incredulous stare) “Well, what DID you do?” Yes, that makes you the ambiguous Graphic Designer. Or maybe you’re not any of these, and you have one of those cushy “desk jobs”, which is fine. Have a few laughs; enjoy the pictures. But I’m talking to the artist-types out there.
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For years I’ve been impressed by the online communities of tinkerers, modders, and hackers that have been collecting on the internet discussing how to reuse and mod their old (and new) electronics. By reusing and modding our stuff we can create cooler and more useful applications while not buying new things. The skillset required for projects varies greatly, from super simple to computer-programmer complex. But almost all projects give you the details you need, and if you need more help, there’s always youtube!

The biggest and most well-known communities are Instructables, Hack a Day and MAKE. We scoured each site and compiled a list of DIY experiments that we’re definitely looking into, to get us in the holiday mood.

The Christmas Cannon
Handmade paper ball ornaments
Computerized Christmas lights
Controlling your Christmas tree via webcam
A collection of DIY Christmas gift ideas

If hacking electronics isn’t your thing, you could always check out Ikea Hacker and Readymade for home decorating DIY inspiration and tips.

Have you done any DIY hacks to your electronics? What do you create for yourself rather than buying? Drop us a comment below.

Today’s guest blogger is our current freelance designer Craig, you may remember him as our beloved slam dunking, penguin surfing, and competitive eating intern.

If you caught last weekend’s episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, you saw the results of hard work from thousands of individuals and dozens of companies in the Northwest Illinois region, including me! The house build was only a few minutes away from my hometown and I was excited to help out those in need. I worked on the house for a few days and the amount of progress from day to day was incredibly inspiring.

Watching the show Sunday was a great recap of the build, and it was interesting at how all the footage was edited down. Although, the program itself didn’t totally convey the huge push for volunteerism and action across the community that was raised in the excitement of Extreme Makeover. Volunteers came out of the woodwork, both locally, with support raised for the local Sportsplex, local food pantries, and other local charities, as well as nationally, with volunteers signed up to the Be The Match marrow registry (watch the episode to see why). Even today, months after the filming, the region has seen an increase in volunteers as a result of Extreme Makeover.

If you missed the episode, you can catch it on Hulu. And for a behind the scenes view, you can check out the build’s Flickr page here. It was truly inspiring to see the outcome of everyone’s efforts and how seemingly impossible things, building an entire house in 7 days, can be achieved when everyone pitches in and helps out. While the TV spotlight on Northwest Illinois lasted only 1 hour on a Sunday night, the impact on our region will hopefully remain for months and years to come.

Have you ever helped on this show? What do you do to volunteer or hope to do soon?