I am wondering how much of a poor worker i am. i generally think of my self as being a little bit on the feeble side when it comes to hard work and i just wondering how true this is and how i compare to others. i generally need to take a break every couple of hours, i find i get quite tired probably from a mixture of staring at a screen and concentrating on the task at hand. but then after a ten minute break or so i am ready to go again. i recon i probably only average about 6 hours a day also as i am not very good at going from task to task. i know i am going to have to up my game a bit if i am going to make it as a freelancer. so what i want to find out is how much work do others manage and how often do you take a break? and if you can manage long hours have you allways managed long hours or were you a little feeble in the beginning like me?

TBH I like breaks too... drink so much tea its unreal! I like a little smoke while I work too spend more time rolling then I do clicking. God i'm like Peggy Mitchel

Depends on what I'm doing. Sometimes I can get really stuck into a new design and can work 15 hours with little stopping. Sometimes, useually learning some harder code, I have to stop/surf/forum more every hour or two.

TBH I like breaks too... drink so much tea its unreal! I like a little smoke while I work too spend more time rolling then I do clicking. God i'm like Peggy Mitchel

 

Rolling some fine quality tobacco cigarettes right.... right.

 

Well I'm still in school, and I need time for friends so I work maybe... 2 hours a night? That's a combination of being to busy and being a slacker, but when I have free time so I can dedicate myself to designing I will.

 

 

 

I agree with the tea statement above, I had like 9 cups of coffee in the span of an hour a week ago and I got more work done than I could imagine!

 

 

 

I HATE

it when I run out of

DRUGS

I don't take as many breaks as I should......

As a full time mum, my day starts a 7 and finishes somewhere about 11 when I collapse into bed. During the day I squeeze in cleaning the house (I am a little bit of a neat freak) Sorting the kids out in the morning, a school run and pick up, a nursery run and pick up. Also washing and ironing. Web design work is in there too. (not to mention spending far too much time on the forum!!!)

 

The amount of times I have forgot to have lunch......

I work 8 hours doing CG at the office, then get home and probably do about 3-4 hours of coding, either for practice or commissions. Tuesdays and Thursdays I take a break and go to a kung fu class, Friday night is business time. If you're a fan of the Flying Concordes, you'll know what I mean, if not:

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

I work 9-5 as a web producer but I take little Wii/tea/fruit/walk breaks every hour or so. Then at home when I'm not out, I work on setting up my freelance site and other projects, but again I take breaks every hour or so until around 1am. It's not recommended to stare at a screen for hours on end every day, it can really dry out your eyes and increase risk of infection, but that said, it's hard when there are a million deadlines pressing!

I work 9-5 as a web producer but I take little Wii/tea/fruit/walk breaks every hour or so. Then at home when I'm not out, I work on setting up my freelance site and other projects, but again I take breaks every hour or so until around 1am. It's not recommended to stare at a screen for hours on end every day, it can really dry out your eyes and increase risk of infection, but that said, it's hard when there are a million deadlines pressing!

 

Web design from the minute you wake up till the minute you sleep. OWCH.

i am on my computers for about 10 hours a day 5 days a week, i take quite a few breaks prob about 5 mins every 30mins walk around the house, get a biscuit, play guitar. or if i am doing hard stuff 5 min break every 1 min...

Web design from the minute you wake up till the minute you sleep. OWCH.

 

lol, if I worked as hard as you've put it, I'd get so much more done. Although in web design I find I get less inspired the longer I stare at a screen so taking regular breaks is great!

or if i am doing hard stuff 5 min break every 1 min...

 

Pro lazy.

 

lol, if I worked as hard as you've put it, I'd get so much more done. Although in web design I find I get less inspired the longer I stare at a screen so taking regular breaks is great!

 

I agree! When I make a design I wait a few hours and come back to it later, good to look at it in a different perspective.

There is no point working for 16 hrs a day if you are tired, you could get the same work done in 8 hours if you were fresh. I work 7hrs30 a day at work, then sometimes 1-2 hrs on the evening, and some more at the weekends. I try not to work too hard though, but enough still to achieve my goals

i definately am not very good at working on a computer from morning to night, i've done it a few times but generally i find if i spend to much time on a computer i get very irritable and i like to get as much relaxation in each day as possible for general well being, when i work all the time i start to think what is the point of being alive and my mind gets very dark. this is probably just a symptom of my general resistance to hard work, probably caused by an easy life as a youth just getting mashed all day every day.

If you have means of exercise at home, or you live near a gym, going to work out is a great break from computer work, its healthy, its a good escape, and it will make you feel good.

I try hard to force myself into 4 or 5 hours of work a day and try to keep this gruelling pace up for about 9 months of the year before having a 3 month total holiday. I think it's important us creative folks don't burn-out and ensure we find time to relax and absorb inspiration... well that's my excuse anyway!

I try hard to force myself into 4 or 5 hours of work a day and try to keep this gruelling pace up for about 9 months of the year before having a 3 month total holiday. I think it's important us creative folks don't burn-out and ensure we find time to relax and absorb inspiration... well that's my excuse anyway!

 

 

that sounds spot on if i can manage that much leisure i surely will. as Bill Bailey would say you are a lord of leisure

I try hard to force myself into 4 or 5 hours of work a day and try to keep this gruelling pace up for about 9 months of the year before having a 3 month total holiday. I think it's important us creative folks don't burn-out and ensure we find time to relax and absorb inspiration... well that's my excuse anyway!

Dammit Wizely! If I can work harder on commanding the sort of salary you have, I will gladly follow your lead. Till then, it's work as hard and long as necessary while there is work, and work at getting work the rest of the time!

I do find time to play guitar and walk the dogs though, and of course, attend the forum on a regular basis

Dammit Wizely! If I can work harder on commanding the sort of salary you have, I will gladly follow your lead.

I never said I earned much!

 

It's more that I've been living in places like South America and New Zealand whilst earning sterling so, although my current income is about half of when I lived/ worked in London, my living costs are about 25% meaning I don't have to work as long to have the same disposable income. Also, because I have spent 6 years moving around the world, I don't spend lots on an annual 2 week holiday or spend a fortune down the pub on weekdays with the work crowd.

 

Of course with the pound taking a nose-dive the next 6 months are going to be painful - in just 2 months the pound has slipped 25% against the Hong Kong dollar meaning I will be heading to Shanghai ahead of schedule.

 

But when I get back to NZ; house prices and interest rates should have come down a fair bit so it balances out. The point of me telling you this? Well, for folks like us there is an opportunity to "have laptop will travel" and see the world whilst still earning and building our businesses. Not only is it great fun, there are opportunities too. I've been in HongKong for a week and have picked-up 3 new potential clients here - 1 for a travel guide, 1 for a business journal publisher and an editing agency. It was the same in Japan, Ecuador, Spain and France...

 

OK I'll stop now! Just don't get suckered into thinking 9-5, mortgage, kids, death... The current financial crisis and the ones before it (don't forget pensions) show that "doing the right thing" doesn't always work out well. In a global economy you can be global!

WIZELY!!!! sorry for caps, you life is my dream. Its exactly what im trying to do with my life! as a rough guide, how much money would you say you need to earn minimum and what you need to comfortably live on? I understand it varies vastly but just a very rough guide would be awesome. Thanks for the inspiration, I have a feeling today will be a very productive day.

WIZELY!!!! sorry for caps, you life is my dream. Its exactly what im trying to do with my life! as a rough guide, how much money would you say you need to earn minimum and what you need to comfortably live on? I understand it varies vastly but just a very rough guide would be awesome. Thanks for the inspiration, I have a feeling today will be a very productive day.

No need to apologise for the caps! Gosh - I'm all embarrassed now!

 

Depending on where you live, but based on an average of about 50 countries and going on the 'pre-crash' average strength of the pound I'd say you can live quite nicely only earning £2,000 a month.

 

If you live somewhere like South America on about £400 a month and somewhere like New Zealand for about £750 a month - that's for food, rent and doing lots of things - for Europe it's closer to £1,000. Places like Japan and Hong Kong think closer to £1500 to enjoy yourself. But this is for everything - rent, food, bills, going-out plenty, activities and trips, running a vehicle etc. You can do it for less if you want.

 

Basically all you need is a laptop and a good broadband connection - I've even worked on a remote Fijian Island that only had electricity for 4 hours a day and had to take a boat to the mainland to upload/download work!

 

I'd say go for it! You can always go back to 'normal' if it doesn't work out.

Well, for folks like us there is an opportunity to "have laptop will travel" and see the world whilst still earning and building our businesses.

 

Wow this is exactly my dream also, i would like to start at the bottom of South American and work my way up to Canada over the course of a couple of years. Have you spent any time in Rio? also what sort of accomodation have you stayed in? if you stay in a hostel and want to go out without taking all your expensive laptop with software and camera and stuff what do you do with it? how do you manage to drum up business? do you advertise in a place ahead of getting there? and how does getting paid in sterling work, does that not mean it costs the customer more and if so how do you stay competetive with other web designers? sorry for all the questions but i would love to go travelling with a laptop and most people tell me they don't think it will be possible so this has really excited me hearing from someone who is doing it!

LOL, and how do you deal with tax... or shouldnt I ask? and work visas or arent they needed because your off the books in a round a bout kind of way? do you use elancer et al to find casual work? i have so many questions i just cant spit them out at the moment!

For the Wizely Travel centre see this thread!!!!

Going back to the topic, I generally get up at 7, go to the gym or running (If I am in the gym, I am generally on the laptop too). Day job on the PC or travelling 9 till half 5 (with a few little 'web' breaks). Then home for tea and a few hours working for myself.