This is a nice short post (4 minute read time), to communicate something I’ve wanted to put down in writing for a while.
The best part of this job is being your own boss, which comes with certain perks. One of those perks is setting my own work hours. If I don’t, I’ll just become a stressed workaholic like the younger version of myself was. I’ve learned that I do my best work when I have set hours and teach clients that they can’t expect me to work/be contactable 24/7. I’m allowed (required, personally) to draw a line between work and home life, which means the defining of office hours. It’s so easy when you own your own business to work early mornings, late nights, weekends…just all the time. It’s actually detrimental to productivity to work this way.
The cycle of “wake up, work, eat, sleep” doesn’t do anyone any favours – better work is done when there’s structure and routine in place to seperate work and life.
So I’m about to list the times when you can reasonably expect me to respond to emails, phone calls, edit your images, manage my books, complete print orders, clean my gear, perform offsite backups, send invoices, plan schedules for your wedding day, organise meetings, have meetings, DM you back on Insta, liaise with venues, and every other task that we take on as wedding photographers. Saturdays are generally filled with shooting weddings, but this is what the work week looks like for me.
Monday to Friday. 8:30am-5pm. With lunch breaks from 12-1pm.
This is something new that I’m sticking to, so that I can continue to look after my mental health and maintain a personal/social life. I think I do a pretty damn good job of this, so these hours are the next progression in learning about how I work best.
This means that if you message me on a Friday arvo, you can expect a reply in the new working week. You can also be happy that I’m having some time off to see family and friends, so that I start the new week refreshed and energized to give my couples the high level of service that I pride myself on.
The best way to get in touch with me, to enquire about wedding photography?
Instagram message. Phone call. Text message. Facebook messsage. Website contact form.
Going through my website form means I won’t lose track of any messages across multiple platforms, and that I have all the information to let you know whether I am available (location, date, whether travel is required, etc).
If you’re a new couple of mine, you’ll also notice that I don’t list my mobile number on the site. I used to have a seperate work phone that I listed, but the additional expense was pretty hefty. Instead of directing enquirers to my personal phone, I simply direct those looking to enquire to my website contact form. I used to receive so many calls from 5-9pm at night, or on Sundays when I was having a day off, which are not normal times to be taking work calls. I provide my number to my couples once they book, so that if you do need to reach me quicker than I can respond via email, you can get onto me straight away. But otherwise, this is just a way that I protect my boundaries between work and life.
Thanks for reading this far! I like to keep my couples in the loop, so that people know what to expect from me as I prepare to photograph their wedding.
Big love,
Jake.
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