Every designer, regardless of their specialization, very well knows that more and more design work is being done by freelancers. The demand for designer services is constantly growing, while by far not every company considers hiring a full time designer. This is why more and more design specialists work as freelancers.
Every freelancer very well knows how uneasy it sometimes is to be productive while working at home. There are two major categories of factors which tend to negatively influence one’s performance when working outside the office. These are factors of distraction and unavailability of the necessary equipment. Thus, once you learn how to effectively deal with these factors your work from home will become much more productive.
Factors of Distraction
When you work from home it is certainly much harder to concentrate, in the work of a designer it is critically important to clearly imagine the view of what you are working on. You need to meditate on the image, to “catch” the inspiration. In case you work from home and especially in case you do not live alone you are very likely to be frequently disturbed. You are at home anyway, why not helping your family members take care of important things like unloading a dishwasher, taking the dog out, watering the plants, you name it. Kids will also struggle for your attention. This is why number one rule for an effective freelance designer is to create a mini office, which will be a taboo for all your family members at least during your working hours. You won’t believe how much time is wasted on leaving whatever you were working on, coping with some minor domestic task and then trying to concentrate on your work again.
Modern means of communication including social media, phones, Skype and other messengers also belong to the factors of distraction. Make sure you either sign out of all your social media and messenger accounts and your phone is turned off, or at least activate the invisible status. This will definitely save you a lot of time.
Availability of Necessary Equipment
One of the advantages to working in the office is the availability of all necessary equipment. Professional equipment may be very costly. However some of it is absolutely compulsory for every designer. This is why, for your home office, you ought to purchase such items as a high quality display, a digitizer, a scanner, a color printer. When choosing a printer, you ought to consider your particular needs. If you specialize in developing outdoors advertisement, you should consider buying a large format printer. If you specialize in multimedia design you may benefit from buying one of the printers that print on CDs and so on.
You need to always remember that the purchase of your professional equipment is an investment into your ability to earn more, into your financial independence. If a certain device appears to be too costly keep in mind that it is your professional tool and you need to find a way to purchase it for the sake of your effectiveness. If you cannot afford buying it new consider buying a used or a refurbished item instead.
When you equip your home office and arrange it so that nobody will disturb you during your working hours, your performance will boost and so will your salary. You have the advantage of being your own boss and setting your own comfortable schedule. See this as yet another strong motivator which will even further improve your performance.
