Some recent changes I’ve made

Making calculated judgment calls and working on professional development is part and parcel of freelancing. Some things I’ve tried recently, for better or worse.

Taking a walk

Today, instead of making coffee at home per usual, I walked to a nearby cafe to get a morning cup and muffin. Zoey hadn’t exercised in a few days, and neither had I. To be honest, I didn’t have time for this. I have several pressing items to do, deadlines looming in the near future, yet I felt a need to do this walk. Of course, like every other time I made myself exercise or prioritize self-care, I felt better. It was sunny and warm, the San Francisco summer finally arriving. 

Recognizing the sunk-cost fallacy

The sunk-cost fallacy has been raising its head all of August. I tried out Google Ads and failed. I took an online course, tried it again, and failed again. I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, but I don’t have the time to figure it out, so I decided to pause and return to it in October. 

Anticipating the anticipatory anxiety

I don’t know many people who love networking. I am most definitely not one of them. But, I’ve been looking on Eventbrite and Luma for local events where I can find photo clients, and connect with other creative people. Registering for the events two months beforehand has been helping in my anticipatory anxiety. I also tried out Creative Lunch Club and am in my third (and final) month with it. It didn’t quite deliver what I was hoping for, which was connecting with other creative freelancers in the city. It’s hard not to get frustrated when networking doesn’t return anything because it takes a lot out of me to decide on an event, register, attend, and mingle with strangers. I don’t have a solution here.

And some other good changes I’ve made, recently or recent enough to know that it works:

• Downloading Raycast (free, Mac-only) and taking the time to write out snippets and learn a few keyboard shortcuts. I now have a template for my event shoots and interviews. 
• At the beginning of the workweek, I list out everything I want to get done in all aspects of my work life. And on the last day of the week, I take five minutes to review the week: what went well, what didn’t, what the week’s highlights were. And at the beginning of every work day, I take 10 minutes to plan my top three priorities. In the same template, I take notes during the day, and answer two prompts: “One ask or scary thing I did today” and “What am I looking forward to tomorrow?” I can’t say this has worked every day, but it has helped me keep on track with what I need to get done.
• Scheduling a time on school nights when I am blocked from accessing certain apps. I’ve been using Refocus (iOS) for almost a year and Sunday night to Thursday night, it’s in full force 12-3 am. My schedule is called “Stop procrastinating bedtime” and I hate it. Well, I hate how effective it is. The more apps I add to it, the less I’m able to put off going to bed.
• For his birthday, I gifted my boyfriend an Aura digital photo frame. For being a photographer, I am terrible at printing and framing photos. The frame sits on the TV console and cycles through a big set of photos and videos. There is no limit to the uploads, and we can both send photos to it. It has helped remind me of good memories, especially when I feel in the pits.
• Adding my communication hours and response times to my signature. I already have it on a confirmation page when you fill out an inquiry form, but having that extra line in my email also reminds clients when they should expect replies. 
• Happy to say that purchasing the Logitech vertical mouse has eliminated my repetitive stress injury in my arm and wrist. Hurray!
• At the beginning of this year, I started the Storygraph genre challenge and recently, a US states & territories one (read a book that's based in each location). The challenges have expanded my reading horizons, not always for the better, but I've discovered some good books through them.

etc.

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