Freelancing web development

Hey guys,

What is the first thing you do after given a task to develop a website for a client? Let's say, building a portal for them to organize their profiles, files etc within their society.

Let's keep it in a freelancer perspective.

You know what pisses me off?
I view a PDF in my browser and my CPU starts running at about 80%.
Seriously, what the fuck is up with that?