When I made the decision to work solely for myself full-time around a year ago after a successful 16 year professional career as a web designer, I thought I’d have all the time in the world – what without having to go to ‘work’ any more.
A year down the road and I must admit I can’t have been further from the truth!
With today’s smart phones permanently hooked up to email, I’ve found myself fall into the trap of becoming a ’24 hour web designer’.
Even if my computer is off and it’s 10pm at night, I found myself not being able to resist checking and responding to emails or planning in my head the next phase of a new project.
I always aim to be as responsive to my clients as I can as they are my life blood, and I have it built into my DNA to please and exceed expectation with people.
But just recently I’ve decided to take a little step back, and to allow myself time when i’m not ‘at work’. I’ve set my smart phone up to not automatically receive new emails on evenings and weekends unless I choose to, so I can separate my home life from my work life. It’s tough – wondering if there’s an email there that needs urgent addressing that I’ve missed.
Of course, more often than not I am still working on an evening or weekend – but when that computer is off I can relax and let my mind turn off too.
Which is important to ensure I remain as fresh and creative for my clients as I can be!
