Freelancing and School

So as summer quickly begins to fade and the new semester peeps over the horizon I feel like I am on a roller coaster being cranked up that first hill seeing the top growing closer and closer.
I am truly excited to see what happens these next few months.

I had a meeting last night with a client that went extremely well. I spent 2 days preparing for it and all that work defiantly paid off. In my Survival Tip #1 post I discussed folders as well as their applications in the realm of freelancing and I found that they definitely work. When we sat down and I pulled out my folder, opened it to the cover page with my logo and their name on it I could tell that I had definitely showed myself to be a professional and they could see I take my job seriously. It was quite gratifying I must say.

But now to talk about the interesting stuff . School is an interesting place for me. Some see it as a place of great and everlasting misery. I personally can not wait to return to it. As a designer I am always working whether for my own projects or those of a client this is a very hectic life and it might seem like a ridiculous amount to throw on myself but drawing and art in general is what makes me happy. When school becomes all about what makes me happy it is a great place to be.

How do you balance school work and your freelancing? I was thinking about this last night and I have come to a conclusion about this. It is all about setting three things in place.

1) Set Time

2) Set Boundaries

3) Set Priorities

First setting aside time. Time is not usually our friend. It always is either creeping along slowly or blazing by so that deadlines are on top of us before we know it. Either way it is a common thread in many of our day to day problems. The solution to this is having excellent skills in time management. Block out your time, create a schedule then commit to sticking to it. My schedule right now is very rigid on Tuesdays and Thursdays with class from very early in the morning till late in the evening. My Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays open for work and I block in that time for my projects and clients. Having time blocked out and set to a schedule makes organizing your life much easier and leaves much more time for important tasks that might be lost in the lazy lifestyle many college students are known to possess. Being disciplined with how you spend your time will maximize your effectiveness as well as help keep stress at manageable levels while freelancing and attending school.

Setting boundaries is an important skill that will help you balance anything in life. In the precarious balance between school and work setting boundaries is an important step. As tempting as it maybe to stay up till four o' clock in the morning playing World of Warcraft, down an energy drink and work till you leave for your commute in the morning it is probably not going to reward you in any ways.

The final and probably the most important thing to set is your priorities. Setting priorities is all about finding what is most important in life and giving those things the attention they need. As a student I am forced to work on boring school projects that are mind numbingly frustrating. Even then though, I am a student before I am a Graphic Designer and so that is what needs my attention. This is one of the hardest things to figure out but at the same time one of the most critical.

So in conclusion setting yourself up for success is very important to actually reaping the benefits of your work. Without setting time, boundaries and priorities I find my time flying by but when these basic principles are committed to your sense of balance and order will be restored and you will certainly be surprised at what you can accomplish.