Hello, my Sweet Beautiful Butterflies!
Happy August...fall is not in the air whatsoever (it's 100+ degrees here today), but I can smell the pumpkin candles filling up store shelves and I can hear whispers of my favorite time of year just around the corner. August is usually when my mind starts to wander to fall, maybe because my inbox is filled with new "autumn clothing lines" or because I too have to think about making new fall/winter artwork. Regardless, I start to get a little giddy about what's to come, despite the fact that it is still a ways away.
So while I patiently await this weather switch and continue to tinker away in my office, a lovely idea popped into my head for this month's post. I'm thinking "A Day in My Life as an Artist". I do get this question a lot, like a lot a lot. What does a day look like for me? When do I wake up? How do I stay organized and on top of things, etc? Soooo, why not share those things in a fun little post for all of you to see?
Let's start with the basics. I work at home, in a spare bedroom in my house. I have lovingly decorated and converted this room into a full-on office studio complete with desk space galore and a chalk wall (main image of that above). I have three desks to be exact: one with my computer, one for printing/packing orders, and one for painting. It's a lot, but I love it and it's generally pretty scattered and messy.
Alright, now that you have the picture, let's dig into what a day looks like for me.
I generally wake up around 7 am (short commute and all allows me a little extra sleep). I get ready pretty quickly (no need for hair and makeup at home alone), and then carry onto the kitchen for my morning coffee. One note of advice for anyone working from home: I still get dressed in regular clothes. I do not stay in my pajamas ever!! I received this advice before starting work from home to help my brain know that I was still "going to work" despite being at home and seriously was the best advice I received. Almost 10 years later, I still stick to this and frequently share with others. Sometimes I'm just throwing on a T-shirt and shorts, but usually I'm putting on a dress, or something fancy because "why not!" The point is, I'm getting out of my PJs, brushing my teeth, and getting into work clothes.
So, onwards from coffee, I like to be at my desk by 8 am to read emails and perform any admin tasks to start my day until 9 am. I also have a handy-dandy notebook by my side where I write out my priorities for the week. Going off of this list, every morning I time-block my day from 9-5 on what I will be working on. This helps to make sure I'm staying on task and feeling accomplished every day.
While every day and every week looks a little different depending on my workload. I like to start out the day by printing out and prepping any orders I may have.
By 10 am, while I may work on client work if I'm extra busy, I typically like to work on stuff for myself. I find I'm a little more motivated to work on personal projects in the morning than in the afternoon. This week, I have a pretty large client job I'm trying to tackle, so I have split my morning between getting a head start on that (mainly sketching and transferring artwork to paper to be painted) and working on some fun personal projects.
12-1: Time for lunch! I don't check my email consistently throughout the day (in fact I have alerts silenced on my computer to stay focused and on task). So instead I check my emails (unless I'm in a time crunch) from 8-9 am, at lunchtime, and at the end of my workday. So, after eating lunch I'll check up on any emails/admin work and pivot my afternoon accordingly if need be.
Once 1 pm hits, it's back to work, usually focusing on client work.
Today as my example, I painted for a client project from 1-2 pm.
2-3 pm - to give me a painting break I worked on sketches for another client project.
3-4 pm - I moved back to painting another couple of layers for client work.
4-5 pm - This is usually left up in the air for me. I like to use it as a time to circle back to anything I maybe didn't get quite as far on for a client, work on personal work a tad bit more if I'm feeling adventurous, or work on the long list of little tasks that compile over the work day (social media, invoicing, quotes, etc.). It's kind of like my open period that I decide how to allocate once I get to it and after assessing what my needs are for that day.
5-5:15/5:30 - Final sweep of emails and admin. This is the perfect time for me to wind down the work day and make sure everything is wrapped up for the day so I'm all set for tomorrow.
So, there you have it. Nothing ground-breaking, but a fun little dive into my day hour by hour (because that's how I break it down). Maybe you will find some help from this and maybe you will realize you like what you're doing waaay more. Regardless, I will see you all in (gasp) September.
xoxo,
Rachel