Managing your time can be tricky! So much to do when you work for yourself … so much to juggle.
We all work in very different ways. Some people use apps, some swear by paper and pen, some plan their days hour by hour others simply wing it. On the back of this and with the publication of our diary planners, we asked three busy creatives: ‘How do you manage your time?’ and ‘What are your favourite planning tools?
Product designer Sue Pryke
Sue says: “My background is firmly rooted in the crafts, having started my journey into ceramics at a small pottery in Lincolnshire in the mid 1980’s. Learning the skills of production throwing; sometimes digging the clay, then wedging and weighing the clay to throw to all the same size and shape. I found the challenge of this precision absorbing and the repetitive nature satisfying. I’m sure it was this early interest into repetitive forms that sparked an interest in volume production and the need to have everything the same.
I’ve worked both as an in-house designer and as a freelance designer for over 20 years for retailers and manufacturers and I still use the skills I learnt in my first job and prefer to work directly with materials, making the initial prototypes, so that I can naturally adapt the forms as the shapes are being made.
I’m inspired by the everyday and the ordinary.”
I love planning.
I remember our business tutor when I was studying my degree saying that the 3 P’s were an important platform for any business: Preparation, preparation, preparation!
And the other admonition, originally from Benjamin Franklin I think “Fail to Prepare and Prepare to Fail!”
They’ve always stuck with me.
I don’t always stick by this – I can be disorganised and forgetful too – but I’m aware that preparation and planning is key to getting things to run smoothly as well as routine.
I make lists, I have a book to jot down EVERYTHING … and the girls who help me in the studio also have a book each, to jot down exactly what they’ve made, fettled, how much the clay weighs that day, how long the casting time is.
This way we can all keep track of what’s going on, and when and if someone else has to pick up the threads of a job, then we don’t have to start from scratch as the basis is already there, and I know also how long it takes in reality to make something.
I have office time everyday, as well as time put aside for social media, and then a kind of whole office day a week. It’s never quite long enough, to follow up emails and invoicing etc.”
How I manage my time …
“My day starts with an early walk with the dog or a run, I mean 6.30ish. This helps to clear my head and prioritise, and has to be this early to allow up to an hour for office and social media catch up before I get to the workshop at 9am.
I take an hour out on a Monday morning to go to yoga too and I make sure I am out of the workshop on time for at least 3 days a week by sticking to my exercise classes or running club sessions so that I have to finish on time!
I don’t have any time saving app, but I have a good clear calendar to jot important events down in as well as The Design Trust’s yearly planner as I think this is a good combination of the 3Ps, a daily planner and a calendar as well as business advice. Perfect!’
[Thanks Sue!]
Illustrator Jessica Hogarth
Jessica says: ‘I am an illustrator and surface pattern designer based in Whitby, North Yorkshire.
My business is made up of 3 strands: wholesale, freelance designing and selling direct to customers via Etsy, Not on the High Street and retail events.
My work is illustrative, colourful and unique and I have applied it to a wide range of products including greeting cards, tea towels, coasters and wallpaper. I have collaborated with lots of companies on a freelance basis including Comme des Garcons, The Wall Street Journal, The RNLI and The British Museum.
My favourite planning tools
“To organise myself I use Google Keep for lists – for both personal and professional things.
I found it hard having a long list of things I was trying to remember being mixed up, such as accounts info being in the same list as booking a dentist appointment! With Google Keep everything I need to remember is in one place, in its own list depending on the topic and can be updated on the move. I am logged in on my computer at work and my phone, so I can add to it wherever I am!
For day-to-day tasks at work I write reminders on a weekly planner that sits right in front of me. Things crop up during the day that I want to do, or if I have an order arriving from a printer this is where I pop this info. I tend to write a few jobs down for various points of the week on a Monday and add to it as I go along.
I flag emails I want to remember but then put them in a folder as I don’t want them clogging up my immediate inbox – this has helped me feel more at ease about my full email account. The flagging ensures I won’t forget and I check in on them every few days to reply to some.
My diary is my absolute saviour day-to-day. My life is pretty hectic so this goes everywhere with me.”
How I manage my time …
“I do find it difficult to switch off from admin – I am very organised so I find it difficult to design sometimes when I know there is paperwork to be done. At the moment we are incredibly busy so I am doing admin all morning and then usually getting 3 or 4 hours to design in the afternoon.
When it gets really busy (with Christmas when I am doing local events) then my Mum (who works for me) is in most days too! This Christmas I took a long holiday as I needed it.
I always get run down at this time of year so I made a plan in September and gave myself a few key design deadlines to work to. I have just about managed to stick to them so this is definitely the most organised I have been for new product launch in January. I spent much of the summer working only 3 or 4 days a week due to one thing and another so really focusing and making the most of my working week has helped me to achieve this.”
Illustrator Niki Groom Miss Magpie
Niki says: “I’m an illustrator for fashion, beauty and travel brands and create hand drawn artwork for packaging and social media. I also illustrate live at events and sell prints of my paintings in my online shop.
I’ve been freelance for 10 years. When I think back to those early years, I remember trying to stick to some sort of structure as that was all that I’d known before in my job as a commercial fashion designer.
How I manage my time …
My biggest piece of advice, rather than downloading a great app or reading an epic time management book, is to work out what kind of worker you are and play to your strengths and weaknesses.
I’m naturally really organised and focused, and I don’t have a family life to juggle, so actually I don’t need an online calendar with unnecessary reminder notifications.
My deadlines are in my head, I know how long things will take and I’m realistic with my time.
However my weakness is that I’ll always prefer to spend time on creative work rather than admin. So to deal with that I now I do my admin in a different place to my creative work. I’m not allowed even one pen there, it’s my desktop computer, my scanner and my files.
There’s so much advice out there, so just make sure you’re trying things that suit you, it’s not one size fits all.”
Are you looking for productivity tips for your creative business? Check out this epic post on productivity for creatives with 14 detailed tips that work.
Feeling overwhelmed? Then watch this FREE online video with Patricia van den Akker with 5 practical exercises on what to do to be less stressed.
How do you manage your time? Do you plan your days out or work adhoc? Are you an app user or a stationery addict? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Nice to get a bit of an insight into how others work, but I think Niki Groom’s comment about finding your own way of working has to be the best! I think I have yet to find my perfect way of working, if there is such a thing!