A behind the scenes look at my work desk today ... so many gadgets to keep me on track. As the business becomes more established I am becoming increasing dependent on all of these. However when it comes to strategic thinking and planning, I am still an old fashioned girl that prefers to do that kind of work with pen and paper - preferably large sheets of butchers paper and plenty of coloured markers. I also prefer to do that kind of work while sitting on the floor. Don't ask me why? Maybe its the sense of space that helps me to think outside the box while puzzling over possible products, services and pricing. Sometimes I wonder if all the gadgets and what they can do is just adding unnecessary complexity into what I actually want to achieve in the business.
Today was working in the business day, catching up on edits from this week's shoots. but it felt like a treat being in the office, systematically working through what needed to be done, after a full week being on customer sites. I have a scheduled "working on the business" day, in a few days time and I will then move from the computer screen and desk and plonk myself on the floor.
One of the traps of freelancing is that your time is always available to customers, and there is a temptation to drop everything to respond to a client's request or to secure that next assignment. When you fall into this trap, things have a way of snowballing and before long you have spent no time on the business or given yourself personal time to simply enjoy life. In order to balance working on and working in the business as well as having personal time, I have found it critical to become quite disciplined around scheduling dedicated time to these activities and sticking to it. Still suffering from workaholic tendencies it is way to easy for me to forego personal time for the sake of the business or a client. I still have a long way to go to set up and automate as much as possible the operations of the business, but as I continue to strive to live now being well, my motivation to use the tools of the trade smarter and more effectively is definitely increasing.
Flying Solo Tip 022365 : To fly solo, mastering the art of scheduling cannot be underestimated.