Feast or Famine

I now have 5 serious jobs on my plate. And not enough time to do them.

For those who don't know, I'm currently caring for my 8 month old son full time. The idea was that I could do design tasks in my *spare time*, but even more so than when I had a job, I have no such thing. Caring for a child takes your time and energy both when he's awake and when he's asleep, when you catch up with all the critical house work and making ready for the next day's baby care.

If I had one design job over the space of a month, it might be doable, but I've recently gotten 4 new jobs in, and one can't really afford to refuse work if one expects to make graphic design their full-time career. The truism that work breeds work really does hold true.

The work will get done, but if you'd told me this time last year that I'd have so much interest in my skills I'd have laughed a big hearty laugh, and then gotten wistful at the possibility.

So, the lesson learned here is; at the start of your career, refuse nothing, and make provision to get it done. It will stand to you in the long run. The knack is in staggering deadlines and setting expectations so that you can fit it all in.

Also, be realistic about how many hours you can put in in the week. If you continue stacking up work as if you had evenings consistently free, and then your circumstances change, then rework the estimates. You're doing yourself and your client no favours by being unrealistic, even if your estimate is what they want to hear.