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We’ve all found ourselves at home with a lot of extra time on our hands. The first week might have been pretty relaxing and a much-needed mental vacation but as we move through this process of social distancing and stay-at-home orders, things may get tougher and tougher when figuring out how to spend your time productively.
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The Perfect Time To Build And Grow
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As a photographer, I’ve seen the effects of COVID-19 on my industry and it’s pretty intense. Nearly every single one of my colleagues has had to cancel all their bookings indefinitely and can’t even go out for a photoshoot with their usual teams. In an attempt to find a silver lining in all this, I think that it is the perfect time to develop your brand without jobs and gigs delaying those essential processes. A good piece of advice I received from a well-established photographer a few years ago is, “When you’re not working, you should be working on promotional materials.” You finally have the time to plan out your social media calendar, revive your online presence, or even start that blog that you’ve been meaning to make.
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Another major time consumer that small business tend to forget is upkeep. You can still make backups of all your files and hard drives on your computer in the background while you binge watch Netflix. However, if you’re looking for something more involved, perhaps it’s a good opportunity to go over your portfolio and reconfigure it or even build your first one if you haven’t done so already. This process, in tandem with going over your business strategy for the latter half of 2020, is a really powerful move that could secure you even more work than you planned on attaining this first and second quarter and recuperate your current losses. Keep in mind, by portfolio, I mean either a printed book or a website, which I know many people have been putting off for up to a few years now.
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Social Distancing Doesn’t Have To Be Distant
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If you’re feeling the mental and emotional effects of social distancing by now, I can assure you that many others are going through the same thing. However, it doesn’t have to be a negative experience. This period is a golden opportunity to connect with clients, colleagues, and peers and show them that your relationship is more than just work. I’ve witnessed a number of people connecting with others online in a meaningful way through video chats, phone calls, and even social media challenges. Apps like Discord, Zoom, Skype, and Houseparty allow you to communicate with large groups of people via a smartphone or computer.
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Try Something New
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If constant jobs and marketing were holding you back from branching out, then this is the perfect time to diversify your skillset. I know plenty of photographers that have been saying, “I’ve been meaning to get into video,” for years now and all the excuses have been officially thrown out the window. If video may not be your interest but you still want to hone a skill to build upon your career, look into graphic design, entrepreneurial development, web design, social media management, or boost your editing abilities.
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Another option is to learn a completely different skillset to flex that creative muscle and become a more well-rounded person overall. I’ve been considering getting into music production since it’s been an interest of mine for a few years now. Many friends of mine have taken up cooking and baking while binge watching hours of Gordon Ramsey to hone their new craft. You could potentially become America’s next top baker coming out of this whole situation.
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Get Personal
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One major piece of advice I’ve learned within the past year is that personal projects are just as important as your client-based ones. Your personal projects are what drive your style and most likely your passion as well. In the absence of work going around in the industry, it is your personal responsibility to keep in practice and just create for creation’s sake. I’ve been working on this attached video project for the past 2 weeks. It was refreshing to continue practicing my video skills while learning a handful of new tricks along the way and continue inspiring myself for future endeavors.
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There are so many places to take inspiration from online like Instagram, Pinterest, Tiktok, Saave, and Behance. Try following an online trend in your subgenre of art or pull out the old notes on project ideas from years ago and finally get around to executing them. It may even be helpful to reach out to some peers during this time to help brainstorm some fun ideas.
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If you are still having trouble figuring out things to do during this quarantine, check out this Creative Exercise I recently developed to help keep you creating in just 4 simple steps.
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