off to a slow start

i have a severe problem with indecision. settling on a final design in my personal work proves to be a constant problem for me. and, really, i'm not sure why. i start designing something and when i hit even the slightest roadblock, it's off to a completely new direction for me. this doesn't happen to me with my professional work. i think maybe the reason it happens with my personal projects is because i know i can take my time with them. i don't typically give myself a strict deadline or any kind of real deadline to get something done when it's for me. maybe this is my problem. at work i follow a strict schedule that i make up for myself each week or each month, depending on the workload. i follow this schedule as best i can and make alterations along the way. bottom line is i have goals of when i want projects to be completed which is usually way ahead of the actual deadline. this way i give myself a little bit of wiggle room to perfect my work. it allows me time to go back and change things i might decide aren't working when the project is "done." it's this mentality of giving time to perfect my project that ends up screwing me in the long run when i'm home. i give my personal projects all the freedom in the world to take as long as they want with the idea that all of the time i've devoted will guarantee that the project is the absolute best that i can make it. in reality, this is bull-shit. i give myself all of this time and i am coming up with nothing. too much freedom has become a curse. i need to devise guidelines for my personal designs. i need to set goals. by the end of this week i should have this designed. or by the end of the month i should be this far along. it's hard, with so many other things going on, to stick to a schedule like this, but i am going to try. my redesigned portfolio website is going to be my cute, little guinea pig. i'm not sure how cute and cuddly i will think of it by the end of this process, but i will definitely be keeping it alive.