Freelancing can be tough when it comes down to creating a routine for yourself – especially when travel opportunities arise and disrupt any chance of you knowing what day it is, or what project you need to focus on next. I can almost hear the yeah, sounds real tough thoughts coming at me through the screen, but bare with me here. When you’re a one man band, it can be difficult to spread yourself across all different areas of your work, it can sometimes make you feel overwhelmed, or just down right bloody useless…
I thought I’d sit down and type out an honest account of what an average day in my life really looks like – no trips or fancy events, just a real account of some hard work happening from my little living room. Of course, this is a day where I feel motivated and inspired, which sometimes only happens two afternoons out of a single week. Don’t be fooled, there are definitely days where all I want to do is binge watch TV shows and eat an embarrassing amount of cereal, and that’s okay. Freelancing is all about learning to push yourself to make improvements, but equally about allowing yourself to have downtime without feeling guilty…
7:30am-9am – Sam starts to get up and make noise around this time, before leaving the flat to head to work around 8:15ish (he’s always late, and I’m always on time). I don’t know how people deal with the anxiety of being late (or literally on the dot), my brain just can’t handle that level of excitement. Anyway, I try my best to get up when he leaves, I’ll head to the living room area and put on some background noise. Morning TV, a podcast, music – whatever it is that I fancy that day. I’ll then usually make some coffee in the french press and have some breakfast – usually yoghurt and fruit with some sort of crunchy topping like granola or nuts. I’ll then sit and fuel myself up for the morning, and try to avoid checking my phone for a little while longer. This is valuable time for my brain to wake up and be a little bit peaceful before the day begins…
9am-12pm – This is when I usually start looking at my inbox and planning out the day ahead. I’ll reply to anything that’s pressing/requires immediate attention, and have a little browse on social media. I’ll maybe post my first post of the day on Instagram, and maybe remind people of my most recent blog post. I’ll reply to some comments, and just generally try and get on top of any life admin. If it’s a day when I’m shooting, Adriana will usually turn up around 11am – I’ll always try and have my outfits planned before she arrives to save time, and we try and leave the flat by 12:30pm at the latest! Especially if the weather is nice – it doesn’t happen a lot in Manchester, so the sooner we get out the door, the more productive we are likely to be throughout the day.
12pm -3pm – If I’m shooting, we will be outside for a good three or four hours usually. It really depends on how many looks I need to shoot that day, and whether or not I have a brief from a brand. If it’s more of a chilled shooting day, we grab coffee and take breaks in-between – when it’s more hectic, lunch is usually on the go with overspilling coffee cups in hand. We never usually shoot too early if we can avoid it – I end up just feeling like shit, and it tends to show in the images, so early afternoon is definitely my sweet spot…
3pm-7pm – This is my favourite window of time to sit down and write. I can’t normally write more than two blog posts at a time as I find that it’s too much of an overload for my brain to focus on, but if I’m feeling inspired, I can usually get a good couple of blog posts written during this time. Along with arranging the layout, creating the ‘shop the post’ widgets, and maybe even adding in the images if I have them already prepared. If i’m not writing blog posts, then I’m likely to be researching topics, making notes – basically anything that might be helpful for me to create something new and interesting. If it’s a day where I’ve been shooting, Adriana and I will go through all the images and pick the final ones to be edited – we will then go through how I want them edited (colours/arrangements etc), and discuss any cool new things we can do for Instagram. I really love arranging/editing images – it’s definitely the most rewarding part of shooting when it all comes together and creates something that gets amazing feedback.
7pm-11pm – These days, I try and stop working completely at around 8pm if I can help it. However, if it’s a night when I don’t have anything social planned, my mind will naturally wander back to that half finished blog post, or set of images that are waiting to be edited. I also have a habit of writing late into the evening as it’s when I tend to be the most tuned into my thoughts – hence the reason I never get up super early. I can be a bit over enthusiastic in terms of keeping on top of my inbox too, I hate going to sleep with too many unanswered emails as I feel like the work just piles onto the next working day. I’m usually answering emails into the evening if I’m not writing – I don’t even notice I’m doing it half the time unless Sam points it out. If it’s been a less hectic working day then I don’t find it as hard to switch off – I love watching films in the evening, I’m a real film buff in general, and it encourages me to forget about my own worries for a couple of hours and fully immerse myself in a new world. I like to cook recently too, I’ve been making lots of banana bread and I think I’ve finally mastered it – I gravitate towards simple activities in the evening that make me forget to look at my phone, and generally just distract me from the online bubble…
Alice x
Photographs by Adriana
Trench c/o – Sandro Paris
T-shirt c/o – Double Trouble Gang
Jeans – vintage Levi (similar here)
Sandals c/o – Marais USA
Bag c/o – Rock n Rose
SHOP THE LOOK
This reminded me of me of us chatting about vlogging last week haha! ‘i get up, I eat, I nap…’ haha!
Anyway – I really loved this little insight into your day! My days are totally similar, but I honestly struggling to write in the evenings! I always find inspiration strikes me on an early morning! xxx
You look so elegant, timeless and gorgeous in this lovely outfit. 🙂
https://lartoffashion.com
It’s really interesting to read what a day is like for a freelancer. Lovely outfit too. x
http://www.yzwears.com
I love blogpost like this. It goes to show that not everting is glam lol. Recently I was feeling a bit off and uninspired and the post really helped me get back into the grove of things!
Foundandstayled.blogpost.com
This was really interesting – thanks for sharing. I love hearing details of other people’s days!
Faye x
i wish i could wink
So interesting reading about your daily freelancer routine! I prefer shooting outfits in the early afternoon too, my brain doesn’t fully wake up until 11am and that tends to show in pictures! Lovely outfit, the hoop earrings are so pretty!
Summer, http://www.thetwinswardrobe.com
Thank you! I’m totally the same – I need at least two coffees before I’m in the mood to get in front of the camera ha x