8 Tips for Artists Working from Home

Wind, Water, Sun (sold)

 

1. Make Room for Studio Space You really need to try to set aside your own area in which to create you artwork. Setting aside a corner, a spare bedroom, a garage is essential to treating your art business and yourself with some respect. Most artists agree that they are more productive when the art materials are ready to go each day. Packing and unpacking your art supplies is a hindrance to steady creativity.

2. Make Room for Office Space You need a least a portable plastic file cabinet and a computer workstation. If you are lapping it (laptop only) try to have a quiet corner somewhere in the house that you can call your office. You need to keep your business records out of the studio. Keeping these two parts of your business separate helps stay organized in the office, and stay free in the studio.

3. What are your hours? If you don’t have regular working hours, get some. Sure you can be flexible to optimize your creative energies but without any working hours at all you might tend to get distracted too often. I set my working hours pretty “mild”. Only four hours per day are official working hours, of course I work many more hours than this. But this is my minimum. I set low expecations of myself each day then feel good because I exceed them most of the time. Mind games might become a necessary part of your workday if you work from home.

4. Go out to lunch a few times a week. I try to have lunch meetings at least twice a week. When I worked in my corporate cubicle lunch was often the most important time of the day. I bet you thought that working at home would mean no more business lunches, no more networking.

Never forget that your art business, is still a business. And business is as much about networking than anything else. Connections are important, don’t neglect them. Try to meet new people when you can.

Yes, social media marketing is great! But don’t use it as a crutch to avoid making new contacts in person. You need real life social skills too!

5. Celebrate the end of your day. When commuters get home they often have a ritual they perform every day. Something that says, “the work day is over, my personal life now begins.” Changing clothes, starting dinner, having a cocktail, reading the paper, walking the dog, whatever …. find a personal ritual that works for you. Use this end of day celebration to signal to your mind and body that your workday is over and your personal time has begun.

6. Find some jammies that you can wear in public. One of the absolute best things about working from home is that you can choose to stay in your pajamas all day long . I like to find jammies that look enough like real clothes that most people don’t really notice that you are still in your jammies. But you know your little secret…….. and it is good……………….trust me.

For me, this is one of the MAJOR perks of working from home. Jammie wear is especially sweet if you have ever held a real job, requiring a certain way of dressing at an extremely early morning hour on an extremely cold, windy winter day.

7. Buy extra printer ink. You will always run out. You will always be frustrated when you do. You will rarely have time to go buy more ink when you really need it.

While I am at it, have your promo materials printed up in advance. You don’t need mountains of it. But have a quick package you can mail out to interested parties. Have some letters of introduction stored on the computer. Keep some full color postcards available to mail at a moments notice. Have stamps, staples, paper, tape, and other supplies ON HAND.

8. Go weird places at weird times. Working from home enables you to enjoy things others only dream of. You can attend the art museum on the FREE TUESDAY if you like. You can work from the coffee shop all morning and then go back home and create. Walk the beach at 6am? You bet.

You can actually do avoid long lines and complete errands in the middle of the day when everyone else is at work! It’s a great perk if you use it. Just don’t completely toss out tip number 3 above, which deals with having some regular working hours.