Work from general to specific, from the whole to the details. So when working on a project, if possible, rough-in as many of the major elements as you can early on, so that you can get a sense of the total, or an outline of it. Work on the details later on. This will lay a solid foundation for the project that the details can hang off, so you can be sure that the later details will be well-placed. This also allows you to communicate early on to the client what the entire project will generally look like. Also, every day that you work, imagine that the client will take the project away from you at the end of that day. If you had to hand the project in at the end of the day, it's better to have a rough version of the entire thing rather than one super-detailed piece of it. You can always go back in multiple passes and add more layers of detail if you have time. Creating a rough version of the entire project early on also comforts the client because they can at least get some idea of what direction the entire project is going in. You want your vision of what it will look like and their vision of what it will look like to sync as early as possible, to prevent major revisions in the future.