Alright, I’m only on day 3 of this whole “working from home” business, and my schedule is already totally whack. I didn’t get into my office until 9 or later the last two days (8 am today, though!), I wasted approximately 48% of my day on social networking, various trips around the house and occasional visits to the kitchen for more tea. My blogs are usually up by 9 am, but the past two days? Not til 11 or later. I need help! I just get so distracted!
So here’s the deal- photogs, tell me how you went about developing a schedule/system that works for you, or give me your best piece of advice for staying on track. I’ll award a yet-to-be-determined prize to one random commenter and will love you forever (a prize in an of itself, no?)!
Also, this is my new office mug! Well, it’s not NEW. I bought it back in January because it matches my brand PERFECTLY, but I’ve kept myself from using it until I’d made the switch. Today’s the first day it’s being put to use and I love it! Green tea FREEDOM never tasted so good.
Happy Wednesday!
Calling all full-time photogs!
June 6, 2012
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I’m not full time yet, so I don’t have a personal answer, but my darling friend Christy wrote about her schedules and how she does it a couple weeks ago π I love the whole concept of an “ideal day” I’m sure you’ll get it all figured out soon!! XXOO http://www.christytylerphotographyblog.com/2012/05/self-employment-month-8-chicago-wedding-photographer.html
While I’m not a photog, I feel your pain. I literally had to write out an hour-by-hour schedule one day and stick it to my computer. It outlined when I gave myself time for social media, email and then when to turn all that off and work! Try to get all your working done during the day and establish a firm quitting time. Once you’re done for the day, turn it all off and don’t tackle it again until the morning. It’s so easy to get distracted, especially when you have a dog too! It took me about three months to get the hang of it, so don’t beat yourself up and enjoy the first week!
I’m not a photog, but I work out of the studio in my home as a graphic designer. I have the distraction problem as well. For instance, instead of doing edits right now I’m commenting on your blog. π I force myself to close internet when I need to be focusing on a project, then reward myself by checking my social media every hour or so. It’s a nice mental break and keeps the day moving.
As for trips to the kitchen – I found my snacking habits really picked up (as did my weight) when I started working from home. I also stopped walking as much, because some days I wouldn’t leave the house. A walk around the block can be mentally refreshing I’ve found and keep you from sitting at the computer for 8 hours straight.
I’m sure you’ll get into a routine in no time. Congrats again on being full time!!
I’m not a photographer, but I am a creative that works from home. Distraction is a HUGE issue!
I’ve found that I can be a lot more productive if I set a timer for 45 min and force myself to stay focused on a task for that full-time and then take a 15 min break. If I do this for every hour, I typically feel very satisfied with the work that I get accomplished in a day.
Oh I think EVERYONE has distrations! Well at least those of us who have desk jobs. I mean the internet is just so full of neat stuff that we want to look at. If I have a pile of work, I make it my goal to get through a certain amount of it before doing things like, reading your blog! A quick peek at a couple blogs and I go back to my pile of work. I think it helps my brain to get breaks. Reading blogs is like my smoke break or coffee break:-P Most importantly I think you should make a goal starting time and ending time everyday so you have a plan and don’t forget a lunch break!!! I think we are more productive when you allow a lunch break. Good luck on your new adventure, and I hope you figure out what works best for YOU!
Check out entrapanure.com for tips on working from home. They have some great articles on scheduling and how to deal with email/social media
I struggle with this daily! One thing that is important to me is remember what type of person I am (ie – not a morning person) and to give yourself grace. I don’t start working until normally around 9:30 and some days 10, but I work later. It is hard for me to get out of the mentality that I have to work a set # of hours. I do not – it is is my business and I know what needs done and if I get that done in 20 hours then so be it.
Ah, there we go. Your blog is accessible again to me! Computer issues… π
I’m in the exact same boat as you! It’s one of the things I’m working on.
Here’s my three biggest tips:
– have an office. Even if it’s a spare bedroom. You treat this as a real job. You go in that room at 9, can have a lunch break if it’s short where you go out of the office, and then go back into the office at 5. You can leave the office only for refills or bathroom breaks. Cut work off at 5. Evenings are for your family. I’d still work until 5 even if you’re done for the day, because if you have “extra time,” put it towards your business, especially marketing. Businesses thrive because the people who go the extra mile.
– If you listen to pandora while you work, then you ONLY listen to pandora. You wouldn’t get on facebook or browse the web at a real job, so don’t do it for this one. (this is easily where I get distracted).
– set aside 1 hour a day for emails, and 1 hour a day for social media (or however much time you need). write out your blog posts once a week and schedule them to go up.
Good luck!! I’m excited for you!
Hi Abby! Just like Emilia – I invite you to check out Christy Tyler’s Blog! She is very insightful with her experience of being a full time photog. Best wishes to you!!!
Check her out! http://www.christytylerphotographyblog.com/
Story of my LIFE girl!! Finding discipline in this lifestyle is extremely difficult! I know I’ve shared my tips with you before, but I’ll still post it in case anyone else cares to read!
Being married, I mimic my husband’s schedule. I’m not a morning person, but I FORCE myself to get up while he is getting ready to leave. We talk about our days, pray together, and I walk him out the door. That way, I’ve been out of bed for at least 5 minutes by the time he leaves, so I can’t go back to bed. At that point it’s 6:55 so I make myself a cup of tea and I plop down in front of the TV for the Today Show! I watch it from 7-8 and usually am in my office around 8am. The reason I do this is because Matt is commuting, so why can’t I have “commuting” time to wake up! It takes me a LONG TIME to wake up and be functional, and if I went straight to my office at 7am after he leaves, I’d be a zombie behind a desk. Instead, since I have the luxury of working from home, I give myself that hour I otherwise would be commuting to wake up, drink tea, and catch up on the latest news. Having this routine has helped me SO much. Whether it’s a favorite morning show, or something you tivoed the night before, I love having something to look forward to each morning.
Once I sit down, well it’s a constant battle. I allow myself grace, but when I feel myself falling behind I force myself to sign off of gchat and facebook so I can get stuff done. I use Spotify for my music and this keeps me OFF of an internet browser entirely! That or iTunes is a great way to go… that way when you go to skip a song, you aren’t tempted to open up facebook again! I LOVE Spotify!
Lastly, I KNOW that when Matt walks in the door, I am shutting down for the day. That means no matter how I spend my day, I must meet my goals by the time he walks in the door at 5:45pm. Now obviously I’m not spending the entire 10 hours from 8-6 working, and this gives me flexibility to spend a little time on facebook, or go to the grocery store, but you just have to keep yourself in check. If I let myself work into the night, I’d be so wasteful with my day, but knowing I have to stop when he comes in the door, it gives me a deadline every day AND it means we get to spend our evenings together (except when I’m shooting or client meeting or… oh, you know!)
I think for you Abby, you are used to having such LIMITED time with your previous job, having to work into the wee hours to get everything done. Now you probably feel like you have all the time in the world, but if you restrict the time you allow yourself to sit in your office, you’ll be more productive with your time AND it’ll force you to step away. I make myself leave the office when Matt walks in the door, even if I’m not finished. This helps our marriage so much not be dictated by my work schedule… especially in light of FULL weekends and many weeknights away for shoots and meetings. It’s the least I can do to preserve my SANITY and preserve my marriage.
Cute mug! Unfortunately, I have no advice to give π
I used to feel like I had to have this strict get up, get blogged, schedule that a ton of people have. It made me feel miserable. Then I listened to Zach + Jody talk about they’re routine. Their mornings are spent with the Lord and with each other and they don’t start work until 10:30 or 11. Of course, they work TOGETHER which makes having a husband who doesn’t work with you a whole ‘nother ball game. BUT it made me realize. Oh. There isn’t a RIGHT way to do it. We DON’T have a 9-5. So I don’t put pressures on myself as if I have one. Sometimes I do coffee dates at 8, grocery shop at 10, come home and work. For a dedicated blogger, maybe you could start writing your blog posts in the evening/afternoon before so they FOR SURE get out when you want them to even if you’re not in the office. I dunno. Little things like that!
I’m still working out my schedule and I’ve been at it for a few months now. It’s really hard. But a couple things that might help (these ideas come from my photog friend, Nancy Ray – productivity genius): http://bufferapp.com is a site that can be linked to any or your social media accounts and will post stuff for you so you don’t get stuck on Facebook all day reading other people’s posts. Another good practice is to allow yourself to use social media a once or twice per day for an allotted amount of time (you can even set an alarm to make yourself stop). That way, you don’t feel completely out of the loop but you’re not wasting your whole day online. It’s hard to get it all together at first, but it’ll come to you! Good luck!
I’m a fulltime photographer. I work from home. I have 2 golden retrievers. Distractions are an essential part of working from home. Embrace them.
You’ll get your work done because you love what you do.
But you’re also choosing to work from home – distractions are a fun part of that choice. Enjoy them!
I’ve been a full-time-working-out-of-my-home-photographer for 4 years now. I can tell you it doesn’t really get any easier. Last year I produced a schedule for myself and it seems to work out. I shoot on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays (a few exceptions here and there), edit on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and only schedule blogs and do light office work on Sundays. My typical “edit/office” days have me waking up at 6am, making my coffee, and heading to my computer. I find that if I start by 6:30 I accomplish 3x as much than if I don’t start until 9. It’s odd…I think it’s because if I actually set my alarm to be there and working, it actually feels more like a “real job”. PLUS–I’m not as tempted my social media as not many people are up around that time. I spend the first 30-45 minutes answering emails and making a quick to-do list for the day. I use the app 2Do on my iPad and it lets me keep a master list and categorized to-do lists that I break down into things like “edits” “correspondence” , “website”, etc.
Once my correspondence is caught up with, then I crank out some edits…and by some, I mean as many as I possibly can in a 3 hour time frame. I don’t leave my desk or even look out the window really. I’m just ON it. Then I switch to office tasks like billing and filing. Then back on editing for an hour. With me, it’s important to keep it broken up so I don’t feel like I’m stuck doing the same thing for too long of a period of time.
Oh geez look at me rambling…I could go on and on and on–just know that it’s VERY important to have a strict schedule and follow it if you expect to be productive! AND you MUST, MUST, MUST SCHEDULE time for yourself. Whether it’s time for a walk, a bath, TV, a read, whatever you like to do! An hour here or there, AND 1 hefty chunk of time a week.
Ooooooohhhhh, girl. I’ve been full-time for 3 1/2 years, and I’m STILL trying to get myself on a good routine. I’ve tried to set schedules, set work hours, tried just about everything. The BEST thing for me is actually to have a detailed to-do list. I make my weekly to-do list for the upcoming week on Friday, and list out all events, shoots, projects, meetings, to-dos, and self-care items (yes, self-care is a category every week). Then I make a daily to-do list for the next day every night before going to sleep, so I know exactly what my expectations and requirements are the next day. I’m the kind of person (and every single personality works differently with this) who needs solid boundaries and accountability, and since I’m single and self-employed, I don’t have anyone else to keep me focused. If I don’t have a good to-do list for the day, I’ll waste it allllll. Bad thing. haha.
Oh, a few other things (and I’m totally not trying to win anything here, just forgot to put this in):
– I blog the entire week on Monday, and just schedule my posts. That way I get in my blogging groove and can just GO with it, and don’t have to think about it the rest of the week.
– Use the “JHO” rule for emails (Just Handle Once). Open the email when you’re ready to reply to it, so you don’t waste time opening it, reading it, reopening it, rereading it, all before responding to it.
– Read “Eat That Frog” about procrastination. The basic gist: make a list, select the hardest thing on the list, do that thing first.
– I make my to-do list VERY detailed so that I can cross off things as they happen and still feel productive (instead of “edit & deliver wedding,” I’ll write “cull wedding, edit wedding, export wedding, upload wedding,” etc.). the bite-sized to-dos are easier to check off, anyway.
– I work from a coffee shop at least once a week, just to keep myself from going crazy in my home office.
– I plan at least one morning or afternoon for paperworkβ I call it my “desktime.” Doing things like filing, and bookkeeping, etc.
I have the same problem getting into my sewing room. So many things that I find to do before I can finally get there and concentrate on the project at hand. You are definitely not alone. I see you have gotten a lot of advice above. I hope you find some tips that help you. Love you!!
i <3 your mug π and good luck!!
I have to literally write out a work schedule and treat it as such. This one has helped me the most: http://getbuttonedup.com/tools2/free_printable_daily_schedule_form_template.pdf
Such a sweet mug!!
I think the best thing you can do is make yourself get up at the same time everyday. I would also take time to make a weekly schedule for everything you want to get done on the specific days. Then you should work until you get everything done each day and I think that will get you started on a great schedule now that things are so different for you. Also, I love the mug!
Abbs,
Don’t beat yourself up just yet about your feeble attempts to make a regular schedule. It’s really the same kind of thing for a teacher. When summer vacation begins, I need at least a good week to just veg and do the things I want to do. I have found that I am far more productive after I’ve rested and can truly appreciate how things work when I have a fresh perspective. It’ll be like looking through a new lens!
Start your regimented schedule next Monday (or the Monday after that, even). Until then, relax with Lily, catch up with the Desperate Housewives (if that’s your thing), cook a new recipe for your hubby you’ve been meaning to try, reorganize, refresh, and smell the roses! You deserve it!
I’m so glad you posted your request. You have gotten a lot of good ideas here. And I’ll bet you feel affirmed by the admission of several people in your situation that it’s not just you that is struggling. I know that a to do list helps me a lot. Making your own schedule and sticking to it seems to have been a big theme here so I would really recommend that as so many find have found it successful here. Give yourself time as your peers have recommended. And don’t let that overwhelmed feeling conquer you. Give me a call if that will help and I will give you some motivation and encouragement.
I’m with Sarah on the scheduled blog posts and the detailed To Do list! I also force myself to close social media when I’m on task for something. Oh and getting up on time is a biggie. If I procrastinate and don’t get to the office till 10-11 I feel like I’ve wasted the day, when I’m there by 9 I get so much more accomplished. I love love love Sarah’s idea of a set morning for office stuff like filing, I’m totally implementing that! I really tried to mimic how I ran things as an IT manager and the weekly To Do list was a biggie for me. You’ll figure it out it just takes a bit to adjust π
Oh! I thought of something else that has helped me. Sometimes if I want to check to see if I have any new emails, I’ll check on my iPhone instead of opening up the browser again. I find that my biggest problem with distraction comes from opening up an internet browser to do ONE THING and it turns into HOURS of distraction!!
Try to think back to what helped you stay on track in college. That’s often a time when we all had too much time, too much to do, and too many distractions. Pull from what has worked in the past and be open to adapting as your needs change. I’d suggest starting yourself off with reasonable, attainable goals then build to challenge yourself as you start to find your groove. Best of luck! I’m excited to see what comes with your full time change!
turn off wifi!! seriously, my internet went down one day and it was the BEST thing that ever happened to my workday! haha
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