Working From Home As a Designer

The excitement of working from home can make you feel like you’ve won the lottery. After you’ve worked for horrible bosses and greedy corporations, it can be a welcome sigh of relief to break out on your own. That new freedom can blind you to the fact that you are now on your own. The motivation of getting up early in the morning at a specific time is now completely up to you. Keeping yourself accountable for everything can be tough, too. If you aren’t careful, you can end up wasting time and missing business opportunities. I have put together some helpful tips for working from home as a designer.

Plan Your Week

You’ll want to plan your work week according to your workload. This means that you’ll likely want to pick up a calendar or use Google’s calendar to schedule important deadlines. You’ll also want to schedule meetings, writing them down to keep track of everything.

Once you’ve penciled in everything on your calendar, you’ll have a bird’s eye view of the time you’ll have left to actually work. Then you can schedule time for self promotion and administrative tasks, too.

Set Up a Distraction-Free Workspace

It’s a good idea to set up your workstation away from distractions, such as the television and other family members. You wouldn’t set up your work station in the middle of your children’s playroom.

Keep Your Work Area Clean

Just as it’s important to break away from family members, you’ll want to make sure that you keep everything neat and tidy. Nothing tears down morale more than having to clean your desk off before you even get started with work. Organize papers into piles or stacks. If it becomes excessive, get a paper rack. Organize papers and files in the order of their status.

Treat it like a Job

You have to treat your business like a job. Try to stick to work hours and a set schedule. This will enable you to get up at a decent hour and get started. You’ll feel better and like you’re getting more accomplished if you are up at a decent hour. You can’t run a business starting at 11 in the morning. Most people like their phone calls before noon.

Set Guidelines for Work Hours

Even though it’s your house, you don’t want to work all of the time. The goal is to work how you want to work. The problem is that you have to know when to stop. With a set schedule that you stick to, clients won’t be calling you at 8 at night. Setting boundaries will help you to keep your sanity.