Modish Biz Tips

Do What you Love: Dealing with Distraction

{photo by like, totally. Is this what your brain looks like on distraction?}

My original intent with this Do What You Love column was to rotate between interviews with successfully self-employed people and regular posts that bring up the not always so sunny side of self-employment. So, I'm putting that into action! Next week I'll have an interview with Jan from Scoutie Girl and Daisy Janie, but today I'd like to talk about what I think is one the hardest parts of being self-employed: dealing with distraction.

Distraction can be a hard thing to keep under control in any work situation, but when you're self-employed, it's often too easy to be a slack boss to yourself. Especially when you work from home, you may find the distractions can get totally overwhelming! Home is where kids and pets and laundry and tv and sunny days happen, afterall!  And sometimes, all those everyday life things can get in the way of your work priorities, and you may find yourself blown way off course.

Take today for instance. I'm writing this at 5:00 pm my time right now. Normally I post here before noon everyday. What's up? I've been terribly, utterly distracted all day long!

I woke up early and ready to work, but got started doing stuff that was outside my regular routine. I think that set my whole day up badly, as I started off blogging late and then little life things started getting in the way- finding a birthday present for Mom, worrying about the dog who was acting funny, paying bills online, doing chores, watering my newly planted garden, calling/texting/twittering, getting lost "researching" online... And wouldn't you know it, suddenly it was mid-afternoon and I'd whittled a whole day away doing a whole lot of nothing! Ack!

When days like this happen it can make you feel depressed, overwhelmed and like a big fat failure. It's frustrating when you know you have so much to do, and you just wasted a whole bunch of time that you could have used doing it!

So what's the magic cure?

Do What you Love: An Interview with Patricia Zapata

Our next interviewee up in the Do What You Love series is the lovely Patricia Zapata. She is a graphic designer who also wrote the book on paper crafting (literally- it's coming out this summer!) She was one of the first indie business owners I "met" years ago when I opened my first little jewelry shop and she's been a constant source of inspiration, both in how she conducts herself and how she manages her business. I think she's also our first mom in the series, so you'll be able to get a little insight into how she runs a family and a home based business at the same time! Let's meet her!

What do you do for a living?

I am an independent graphic designer and I own two businesses. I design corporate identity and collateral materials for small to mid-sized businesses for my Zapata Design clients. Through A Little Hut, I sell paper illustrations, wall art, design stationery, printable PDFs and block printed note cards. I’m also the author of Home, Paper, Scissors, a papercraft book, which will be published in August of this year.

How long have you been self-employed?  What made you decide to take the leap?

I left my design job when I had our first child. It was a leap of faith and a choice purely inspired by the fact that I was a new mom. After being a full-time Mom for a year, I realized I needed to work creatively again. I felt my artsy neurons demanding some exercise again. I’ve been self-employed since 2001 and I haven’t looked back since.

Do you work from home or have a studio/office elsewhere? 

Do What you Love: An Interview with Abigail Percy

Today I'm so pleased to bring you another installment of our do what you love series, featuring one of the first jewelry designers whose work I ever truly fell in love with, Abigail Percy. She creates her mind-bogglingly stunning creations out of her home in Glasgow, Scotland and has been successfully living off her creativity and talent for almost 4 years now. Let's read a little more about how she got started and how she makes it all work, shall we? 

What do you do for a living?

I am a Designer Jeweller, and so I make and sell my jewellery, in addition to some prints and drawings on occasion too...

How long have you been self-employed?  What made you decide to take the leap?

I have been self-employed for just shy of 4 years now. I decided to take the leap straight out of art school, after graduating, because I wanted to get stuck straight in and knew that if I got used to the security of a job, it would be a much harder leap to take later on in my 20's, 30's etc...I had also made some money at my degree show from sales and awards, so I could invest in some equipment to help get the workshop established.

Do you work from home or have a studio/office elsewhere?

Do What You Love: An interview with Karin Eriksson

Today we have an interview with the successfully self-employed artist, Swedish ceramist Karin Eriksson. I've been absolutely enamored with her work for years- it's stunning and is featured frequently on favorite design blogs like decor8, oh joy, design*sponge and many more. Not to mention, she has her own long running design and style blog and impeccable taste to boot!

Let's get a little glimpse into how she works and her tips on how to make a living doing what you love.

 

What do you do for a living?

I work as a ceramic designer / maker, I produce and sell my work to shops and galleries in all parts of the world. I also have my own shop manos here in Stockholm, where I sell my ceramics and other things that I love.

How long have you been self-employed?  What made you decide to take the leap?

I’ve had my own business for nine years. Before that I worked as a project manager for an advertising agency here in Stockholm. Although I liked working there, I always felt I wanted to do something more ”grounded” or meaningful perhaps. That’s why I decided to go through a second education and make a career out of my hobby.

Do you work from home or have a studio/office elsewhere?

Do What You Love: An interview with Grace Bonney

Our first interview in the Do What You Love series is with design blogger wonder woman, Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge. Her blog is read by over 40,000 people daily and was one of the first I found that inspired me to start Modish. I've always wondered what life is like for her behind the scenes of running such a successful website and happily, she's given us a little glimpse!

What do you do for a living?

I run Design*Sponge, which takes up most of my 24 hours a day. Until two weeks ago I was a contributing editor at Domino and Craft Magazines, but they both closed within a week of each other so now it's all D*S all the time. 

How long have you been self-employed?  What made you decide to take the leap?

I left my full-time job in 2006 and haven't looked back- I've always kept a few freelancing jobs on the side because it's fun to do something different every once in awhile (especially if it requires me to get out of the house- which I need help with sometimes).

The decision to leave was a scary one, but I was fundamentally unhappy in my day job and knew that if I was ever going to try to do the site full-time, that was the time. It was new, a good time to try to make a living from a blog (as opposed to say, our current economic climate), and I was excited to see if I could make it happen. So I made an economic plan, met with someone at my bank to see if I could do it and then made the jump. Basically, I like to look before I leap.

Do you work from home or have a studio/office elsewhere?

Do What You Love

Introducing Do What You Love, a weekly series on the good, the bad and yes, maybe even the ugly side of self-employment (is that where the un-showered pajama wearing part comes in?)

Taking the leap into creative self-employment is a huge, often scary decision, and unfortunately, it's a decision that will most certainly seal your fate as a work-a-holic.

Before I quit my day job, I had an idealized picture in my head of what my self-employed life would look like. Oh, how much easier it would be! I would no longer have to answer to anyone, I could set my own schedule, take leisurely breaks mid-day, have time to cook! And all the while, to actually be making a living doing what I love? That's something most people can only dream about!

But then came the not quite so rosy reality. The long looooong hours, the distractions, the need to set schedules, the no money coming in, the isolation, the lack of motivation, the forgetting to eat, the not taking breaks, the bookkeeping, the organizing, the still dirty house, ugh! I was prepared for a lot of hard work, but damn! This is not just work, this is my life now.

Still, it's the life I've chosen for myself because, for all its drawbacks, it has a major plus: I can honestly say "I love what I do." I get to go to sleep exhausted from spilling out ideas. The more work I put into something, the more I get in return. I set my own agenda. My success is wholly dependent on me. It's a bit overwhelming at times, but I wouldn't give it up for any other job at this point in my life.

This series is dedicated to those of you who've chosen this path too, so we can talk openly about the downsides and also help remind each other about all the upsides. (Speaking of which, why don't you step outside for a little break after you read this, hmm?)

It's also for those of you who are seriously considering leaving the 9-5 grind, whether you have a creative business on the side already or would like to start one. Hopefully this will help you decide if self-employment is really for you and if so, it'll help you navigate through the ups and downs you may encounter.

So, on with the first installment! Coming up next: an interview with Grace Bonney, editor of design*sponge, about what self-employed life is like for her. Stay tuned!