1. A day in the life of a freelance Typographer & Graphic Designer
2. My name: Lisa Simmonds
3. Company Name: LKS Designs
4. Web Address: http://www.lisasimmonds.moonfruit.co.uk
5. City, country – Based in Essex, UK
6. How you Start the Day – ie. Get up what time, travel?
I get up about 10am, one of the biggest perks of working from home!
7. First jobs – Then I immediately turn on my Mac and check my emails. After that I check Facebook (it’s not slacking – it’s networking!) Then back to the emails to reply to anything interesting and check on any jobs I might have been sent.
8. The rest of your work day – Then I make a cup of tea and start working. After that it depends on the amount of work I have. I either work on whatever project I have for the rest of the day or start looking for more work or prepare promotional material for events I have coming up. Today for example I worked on some book layouts, then started creating a flyer to advertise myself at a book fair I’m attending at the end of the month. At some point I break away from the computer to eat and maybe even pop to the shops!
9. Evening – In the evening I might still be working, or I might go to the cinema or theatre, see friends for coffee (or something stronger!), or just stay in and watch a film. Normally afterwards I’ll go back on the computer and do things like write this ’til 2 or 3am (it is now 3.20am!).
10. What you love about your job /course – I love that I can do what I like when I like. If I want to see friends in the afternoon and then work until 3am and get up at 11am – I can!
11. What you hate about your job /student life – I hate the fact that sometimes I don’t think I’ll get enough work to pay the bills.
To take part in – A day in the life, please read this post
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17 Comments
Great post, I can’t get enough of having a nose into other designers routines!!
Thanks for sharing this.
Hi Shane – I am nosey too, Thanks for commenting
Interesting Post. I have a similar day as well. I love working from home it definitely helps that I can work at whatever time suits me as long as I get my work done. And Yes Facebook is networking in my book too!
Loved reading your article, im also from the UK, im a freelance web designer trying to break out!
Haha Shane, i totally agree with you.
Sometime you even get some useful ideas on how to change work day routines.
I so agree with Lisa on point no 6.
Getting up in the morning is a huge challenge when working from home.
I usually get up at 11
But then on the other hand, i work in the night time, so i think it all ends up even .
I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets up late and stays up late! I thought everyone else got up at 6am and went for a run first!!!
@Lisa
In my opinion, only crazy people get up before work to run. Crazy is not necessarily an insult- just a perspective from a healthy person who hates running AND mornings that start at 6.
Your routine sounds very fulfilling. I love that you do what you love every day.
Ditto, on several points:
“Get up about 10am “- Thats always nice – I often feel I should get up earlier though. Guess it depends on how late I work.
“I hate the fact that sometimes I don’t think I’ll get enough work to pay the bills” Yes this is probably the biggest issue. I think it is one of the reasons designers should charge more if they can. You have to account for time spent on doing non billable items. Might be the reason many go back into the work force.
I completely agree that it is great when you are your own boss to be able to fit work around your lifestyle and that it is scary when the work dries up for a while and the bills still need to be paid! Thanks for sharing, really enjoy reading these posts.
I can somehow relate to your life as a freelancer. Facebook is somehow part of people’s daily routine.lol checking emails mean checking facebook as well and its “networking”. The flexible working time is the greatest part of being a freelancer. I have to agree though that there is no guarantee when it comes to financial stability. But if you are hardworking enough, you can always find a new job if ever you lose one.
An interesting insight into the world of a freelance designer and the flexibility of it.
Aaaah, I wish I could get up at 10am every day! I woke up 20 mins before I was due in work, I bet I smell!
Hi Judy, Hope you are not in a small office
Dwayne – I find it very difficult to charge more! I work with a lot of small businesses and I go in tough – trying to get a decent fee and end up on minimum wage and under-billing my hours to get follow up work! I need to get tougher or get richer clients!!
I personally envy your lifestyle. You have control on your working hours. Do not worry with your financial stability just work hard and you’ll do fine.
Sounds like your enjoying the perks of being a freelancer, i envy your lifestyle too. The Monday morning drive to work at 8 am is really grating on me. Is it worth the worry about not knowing if your going to beable to pay your bills or not though?? Alex
Most of the time!