echo codex is a tumblelog.

Schedule

Since it looks like I’ll be returning to full-time freelance work at some point this year (probably sooner than later), I’ve been wanting to address something I failed to do the last time I was a full-time freelancer - namely, scheduling my time.

It’s amazing how quickly you feel overwhelmed or overworked when you wake up, wander into your home office, sit down at the computer, and then get lost in projects until it’s after midnight again. Despite sitting in front of the computer for that long, there are big stretches of time when you sort of lose track of what you’re doing and definitely aren’t really being productive.

12 hours of “working” often only amounts to getting six hours of real, productive work done. Maybe less.

The few times I tried to set a schedule for myself, I failed to account for …. reality. I didn’t accommodate the things I wanted to get done outside work, and instead of building a schedule that made sense for the way I work best, I created a faux set of “office hours” as if I had a traditional 9-to-5 job.

So this time around, I’m more interested in scheduling my day realistically - in a way I’ll actually stick to. I need to incorporate time for some physical activity, breaks to keep me from zoning out, and a strict end-of-business time. Without those things, I’m pretty sure I’ll either fail to stick to the schedule, or end up not being as productive as I ought to be.

With all that in mind, here’s what I came up with:

8 AM - Wake up

8-8:45 AM - Bike ride (or treadmill if bad weather)

8:45-9 AM - Shower, brush teeth, get dressed

9-9:15 AM - Cereal

9:15-10 AM - Drawing (for fun, not work)

10 AM -1 PM - Work (power block, most productive)

1-2 PM - LUNCH

2-4 PM - Work

4-4:30 PM - BREAK

4:30-6:30 PM - Work

6:30 PM - EOB

That works out to seven hours of work, and leaves plenty of time for the other things I want to get done during the day. If necessary (and it probably will be), I can always add another hour at the end of the day in the 10-11PM hour. But 6:30-10PM is OFF LIMITS. You’ve got to have time for a life.

And if you think a seven-hour workday means I’m slacking off, forget about it. Most people are truly productive for only 3-4 hours of their work day - and plenty are productive less than that. Seven hours is a very reasonable time to get a day’s worth accomplished, especially when you’re self-motivated.

So that’s it. I’ll get a chance to test this out soon enough, but I’m curious what you guys think about it. Could you work on a schedule like this?

Grimtower Art: Part 2

I’ve pretty much completed the structure and design of all the cards, with a few exceptions (swindle, epics). So, I decided to try a few quick sketches and see if my crude drawing style was going to ruin the cool look the cards have.

Here’s a partially-inked sketch for one of the two Hero cards. I’m not sure it’ll actually be the artwork I use in the finished product, but I tried it out as part of an actual card and it didn’t look *too* bad.

Friends and Clients

Spent most of the morning building a cost estimate for a very large job that will unfold over six months. It’s hard to “guesstimate” your hours for a project this big, and it’s even harder to hand over an estimate that has a client paying for at least 520 hours of services.

I’m fortunate to have worked with these folks for a long time, and know that they value the work I do. But for some reason, I still have a hard time asking the “going rate” from clients who are also friends.

Avatar, Part 2

Taking the Santos-Prowses to see Avatar tonight. I still wish Knoxville had a true IMAX screen, but the 3/4 size digital projection is pretty nice.