Being creative for fun, when being creative is your job
Yesterday, Thursday 18 June, was National Freelancers Day.
I only learnt that this morning courtesy of my Lonely Goat colleague and fellow freelancer, Emma Ratcliffe’s Instagram post looking back on her twelve months as her own boss.
[Should you require any social media management or brand photography, you may wish to have a look at Emma’s work]
Emma’s post got me thinking about my experiences and what I’ve learnt since becoming a full-time freelancer earlier this year. For me, one of the trickiest things has been finding the time for personal creative projects, now that my job is being creative.
As a full-time charity fundraising employee I had an hour’s train commute to work and back each day. I used that time, and my lunch-break, to read, write, draw, try to learn Spanish, listen to podcasts, or even just sleep. Yes, commuting is a pain, especially if there’s problems with the trains, but I was able to use that ‘dead time’ for some of the things I enjoyed.
Now, my day looks different. I don’t have to commute and the work I’m doing is much closer to what I would previously have done just for fun. I’m not complaining about this, as they are the biggest perks of the job and my main motivation for becoming a freelancer. But, this situation has led to two ‘things’ (they’re not serious enough to be classed as ‘issues’ or ‘problems’) I’ve had to become aware of:
Keeping defined boundaries between ‘work’ and ‘play’;
Finding other ways to be creative for fun.
The first ‘thing’ is relatively easy to keep in check, but I’ve had to be strict with myself. Beforehand, my working day was defined by the moment I entered or left the office. I don’t have that, working from home, so I’ve had to find other methods to keep work and home separate - otherwise it is very easy to find the working day creeps into evenings or weekends off.
I’ve moved my desk from the dining table to the back bedroom, so I can close the door on it at the end of the working day. My ipad is used for work only, wherever possible. I’ve set my phone to switch into night-mode outside of working hours, as a visual prompt. And I avoid sending emails outside working hours. None of this will be news for experienced freelancers, but it was something I had to learn early on.
The second ‘thing’ is a little trickier to resolve, and it was a while before I even noticed it as something to deal with. With no commute, I’d lost the clearly-defined time I’d used to be creative for fun. Plus, because I was writing a lot more for work, I struggled to find the motivation to write for myself. It was a couple of months before I realised that this lack of personal creative time was having a negative effect on my mood.
Resolving this is still a work in progress, but a couple of things have helped:
I try to keep the first hour of the day for fun or personal projects; and
I’ve been trying new things or developing skills I’m rusty on.
For the last three weeks I’ve been doing an online course in graphic design. I’ve enjoyed it and my graphic design skills have improved from following the structured approach.
Last month I learnt how to use Garageband on my ipad and remixed a song by my friends, Plastic Mermaids, for a competition they were running. I doubt it’s going to win - as I’ve butchered their lovely song and turned it into a dodgy nightclub banger - but I had a lot of fun working on it.
What’s next? I love drawing with a pen on paper, but digital illustration is something I’ve not done much of. Perhaps it’s time I gave it a proper go? Then, I want to get back on the Duolingo Spanish lessons, or restart some creative writing projects that have been paused for too long.
To an extent, it doesn’t matter what I do, just as long as I do something creative that is just for me, not for work. Even an hour a day has made a positive difference.
Please accept my apologies for what has become a rather self-indulgent blog post, but I’ve written it in the hope that it might help other creative freelancers who are wrestling with the work:life boundaries - or prompt some suggestions from you, dear reader, on any tricks I’m missing.
Thank you for reading.
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