Read on to find out. Web design work is notorious for having tight project deadlines and web designers are known for working around the clock.
If you want to be an excellent web designer and still keep a personal life, you must discipline yourself to be extremely organized and manage your time. This means learning time management skills and disciplining yourself to use time management tools such as digital organizers and planners.
Another key skill is to always keep current of all the newest trends. The internet is a dynamic medium; it's always changing. For that reason, popular web design styles can change literally from one day to another (remember when those animated horizontal line breaks used to be 'the thing'?). If you want to be with the best in your field, you must make it a habit to know what's "cool" and excel at doing it. Finally, know what you're worth.
Are you still earning a crappy paycheck week after week when you know your projects are making your boss 10 times as much? Unless you're Mr. Entrepreneur (and willing to put up with even more sweat and tears by starting your own business), your best choice is to find a higher-paying job.
While word-of-mouth is not always possible in such a competitive field, using an online job board like LogicBench.com might be the best alternative.
