While working on net, there are so many things which make us loose our concentration and it becomes more difficult if you are a freelance graphic designer. The overly hyped social media has made it more challenging to achieve maximum targets in limited time. Don’t get me wrong when I blame “social media” here, I have given my reasons below Actually, I personally believe social media to be a huge world and one can easily be lost once in the territory. As a graphic designer, I have an idea how easily graphic designers get distracted, failing to give best results. Therefore, today I bring some useful tips to help you keep yourself focused and more productive.
In a typical job, it is not that difficult to keep attentive but for freelancers it is very tough to stay dedicated and be on schedule. Here I have to confess that many times I end day dreaming, failing to achieve my targets
Still, I am working hard to make improvements and would like to share this list of tips which I aim to follow. Not to forget, many times graphic designers follow crazy tips to be creative. Therefore, don’t stick to this list and share your innovative ways to be productive.
Let’s begin here:
1 ) Line up all your tasks: Before you open your laptop, pick up a piece of paper and a pen. Roughly list down your tasks. Don’t forget to prioritize your to-do-list, so you know clearly which things should be taken care first. The biggest disadvantage of not having a task list is that you spend all day working on things that seem to be benefiting your business, but in the end you realize that you are not focused in the right direction.
2 ) Finish your pending work: For me this tip is the most effective and important one…rather than starting new assignments, try to complete your pending tasks before you start with a new task. The biggest responsibility as a freelancer is to finish all your projects on time….grabbing number of projects at the same time, can get you into trouble.
3 ) Explore your most energetic hours: One cannot be active and creative round the clock. There are certain hours when we are able to give our best performance in short span of time. Explore yourself and try to identify your most energetic hours. Early morning when you are not in real work mood, start with tasks that are less demanding mentally. Save your most energetic hours for your important projects.
4 ) A nap or lunch break won’t harm: No book of rules recommend working non-stop to be productive and efficient. After working for consistent hours, there is no harm if you take a short nap or go for a walk to regain your senses. Don’t be harsh with yourself; be flexible with the changing circumstances around.
5 ) Fix an alarm to buzz you: Place a huge alarm clock on your work desk to ring you when it’s winding time. Always fix a dead line for yourself and make it a target to finish up your work within the time assigned. This way you will know which project takes most of your time, so then you can readjust it with other errands.
6 ) Define time for social media: Social media is the most happening thing on the net and one of the biggest resources to get tons of traffic. It always happens with me that once I begin with the social media, I completely lose my check on time and usually end up reading interesting blog posts, with my work left incomplete. So always beware, confine your social media to limited time.
7 ) Multitasking: There are so many different things to do, therefore it’s better to categorize them. Try to do bigger projects first and line up similar things aside to be done all at once. In short, divide your day into small parts and be clear when to do what. Don’t dedicate your full day to a single project…try getting smaller things done along with an important project.
8 ) List your resources of research: We all have some timeless resources which always strike you with creative ideas. Always bookmark these resources of your daily use and have them on your desktop so that every time you don’t have to waste your time searching them.
9 ) Checking Emails:Limit your time for checking and replying emails, networking with friends: Checking email many times throughout the day may lead to more time than necessary. Maintaining email boxes, is a never ending work for freelancers. Getting a little bit behind for a few days can quickly lead to an unmanageable amount of email. Therefore, do check your emails regularly but restrict yourself to limited time.
10 ) Eat healthy and exercise regularly: One of the biggest disadvantage of working as a freelancer is that we get very irresponsible with our eating habits and body maintenance. If we are into any 9 to 5 job, we make an adjustment to stop by the gym on our way back. However, working from home makes you careless about yourself. Don’t forget, you will be more productive and creative if you are healthy.
This article is from Graphics Design Blog.
