I was musing on the things that can impact on my working day. I have been self-employed for many many years, and for most of that time, like now, I have had a studio at home. I can therefore say with a fair amount of first-hand experience that it is vital to be self-disciplined and to have a professional attitude to the working day – especially if the studio is at home. I don’t mean 9 to 5 necessarily (my days are frequently very long, and I don’t really stop work when I’m not actually in the studio), I mean in approach.
We have two dogs. The first of these came into the house almost exactly 13 years ago, after the realisation that I was rarely leaving the house because the commute to the studio meant walking up a flight of stairs. Not healthy for mind or body. To cut a long story short, my day got going after breakfast with a long walk (an hour and a half) along the beach, in all weathers. A Jack Russell, a lively Springer Spaniel, and driving rain really get the blood flowing. Back home by 8.30, well set up for work, up the stairs to the studio with a cup of coffee, fingers still tingling from the cold and head buzzing with thoughts.
The dogs are old now, and the Springer is quite creaky (they both came from the RSPCA and were already a couple of years old when we got them), so sadly the bracing walk is now a slow meander, mid-morning. I have adapted my routine to suit, but I realise that the dogs may not be around much longer, and I will need to adapt my routine again.
I spent some time this morning looking for an alternative broadband supplier. Strictly speaking it is ‘admin’ because the computer is for the studio and rarely used for private stuff, but I still feel slightly guilty that I should have done that in my ‘own’ time.
