5 Work Habits I'm Less Than Proud Of...
Over the years, I have developed a lot of questionable work/career habits that I am slightly embarrassed to share...but in an effort to be transparent with anyone looking at freelancing long-term, we have to be open about these thigns so others can avoid the temptations.
5 Work Habits I Am LESS Than Proud Of and Urge Other Business Owners to Steer Clear!
The Forever Job Hunt
No matter how many projects or clients or jobs I have - I am ALWAYS APPLYING TO MORE.
WHY DO I DO THIS? All this does is put more pressure and to-dos on my plate. What it boils down to is the uncertainty of freelancing. Clients are always coming and going and I have this perpetual fear of losing so many that I can't afford my current lifestyle or provide for my kiddo.
The fear comes from spending many of my early years in Philadelphia not being able to fully support myself. My parents were absolute angels and sent me rent money every month after I cried to them over the phone. The shame I still feel whenever I ask them for something that costs money is intense.
BUT, IF I ALWAYS HAVE TOO MANY CLIENTS, that's better than too little!
I'm realizing I need to bring this up in therapy...
So, So Sedentary
As I type this, I literally have not gotten out of my seat in the last 4.5 hours.
Pardon me while I take a 5 minute stretch break.
Taking breaks is so tied to FINISHING something, for me. If something needs more work, I stay seated. If a retainer client emails me mid-other-task, I get their task done, then go back to the task I was doing before and so on and so on.
It turns into 5 hours without stretching or snacking or giving my eyes a break and other things that are deemed healthy. I am not the healthiest designer in the world but, hey, I respond to emails SO FAST....
Someday I will learn to put myself first.
Caving to Endless Rounds of Edits
Luckily, my biggest client is hourly so I still get paid what I'm worth for ALL those edits. Because of the nature of her business, elementary aged kids need to test everything I design. As you can imagine, this turns into countless rounds of edits and rethinking the flow and layout of a lot of the work I do.
Yet, this is not always possible or smart.
If you are working with a flat fee - you HAVE to put limits on the amount of edits you can make. Not only is this better for you and your time, but it trains other people THOROUGHLY looking at every corner of the project and sending you ALL the edits they see all at once (instead of one email with one change...then 10 minutes later another change in another email....).
You'll need to reinforce the limits and remind your client every time you sent back a draft of how many rounds of edits they have left. They more than likely will not be keeping track.
I'm a "Selective" Control Freak
I DID give up on perfection, or my version of it, a long time ago.
There are still some things I fail to do, like spell check (what is wrong with me!?), BUT nudging around the the placement of text and images and all the usual design elements until everything feels balanced is something I spend WAY Too much time on.
What takes the most time is that I'll complete something (or think I'm done), I export it, then I see an error, so I fix that, then re-export....then I think the headline would look much better if it were a little off center to help balance the graphic beneath it, so I fix that, then re-export....ugh...I exhaust myself.
Oh and I don't do much proofreading...you can probably tell that from these emails. I honestly forget to...or I'm in such a rush to get to a paid client that the business end doesn't get the attention it deserves.
Social Media Inconsistency
I will love social media and have so many cool ideas for posts and I'll make a calendar for the month and I'll get all those posts done and tagged and scheduled....
and then I either forget about the next month or intentionally relinquish myself from feeling the impulse of inserting myself into the graphic design hustle and bustle for months.
We all need social media vacations sometimes.
I have reconciled that sometimes I just want to watch and observe. Not a lot of my current business comes from social media anyway, so I don't always feel the pressure to post constantly.
This is not the best tactic for growing a business, obviously, but when you are in a good spot financially and creatively, I implore everyone to take a break.