Time Management

Today's post was inspired by a handful of drivers passing me on my way to the store, obviously pitying me for having to balance grocery bags on the handlebars of my bike.

I live in a neighborhood right around the corner from Walmart.
It takes me 3 minutes to get there by car.
10 minutes to get there by bike.
20 minutes if I decide to walk.

When the weather is nice and I feel like it, I take my bike to run errands such as getting a couple of ingredients for dinner from the store. Or visit the library just a couple of minutes further away. People around me often seem to find that weird. But those are the same people that drive their car to the store and later take an hour out of their day to jog through the park or go to the gym. Why not run errands and work on your fitness at the same time?

And here is the actual topic of the day that also brings us back to photography: Time Management and Efficiency

1. FAQs: There are a few questions clients ask me regularly, such as "How much is a session? What is included? How long will it take you to edit?" And even though my website contains all of this information, I end up replying to these clients via e-mail. Is it really worth it to spend 15-20min. typing up an informative and professional response every time? Absolutely not. Take a word document and create generic answers to the most common questions you are asked. Now all you need to do when one of those questions comes up is copy and paste.
2. Communication: There's facebook and twitter and google+ and private messages and cell phones and your business e-mail as well as your personal e-mail address. I'm sure I'm missing something. Anyway, you can't constantly monitor every single way a client could be trying to contact you. For important things, such as details about a session or scheduling, encourage all of your clients to use ONE of the above methods. Personally, I prefer e-mails because they are the closest to an old-fashioned letter and therefore your safest bet should you need proof of an agreement in writing.
3. Editing: When editing a session, several images will have a similar look to them, because they were taken at the same spot and with the same lighting conditions. That's what Photoshop Actions and batch editing are for! I often edit the first picture while recording my steps. Then I apply the newly created Action to the rest of the pictures. Sometimes that action can be used again in the future. Sometimes it gets deleted. Did you know you can even create an action that includes already existing actions? One of my personal ones runs "Lemony Snicket" and "Fuzzy Peach" and "Eye See You" from my Shirley Collection automatically one after the other, at different opacities.
4. Eliminate Distractions: Unfortunately, we have all become used to instant replies to questions, instant communication through phones and other media. But my old approach (edit two pictures, then check facebook, edit another picture, then check email, ...) was so unproductive, I had to change it! After all, it won't hurt anyone to have to wait for a reply a couple of hours. Close down all programs and all sites that may be distracting in some way. Edit. Finish. Then check facebook. You'll get more done, I promise.

Being more time efficient means more free time and a higher hourly wage. Who doesn't want that?