Photo by Slphotography via iStock
As the famous entrepreneur Jim Rohn once said, “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” We couldn’t agree more, so we spent hundreds of hours researching and experimenting with time management strategies to help optimize our lives.
What were the results? Well, we are proud to say that we now spend less time working, earn more money, and generally feel happier on a day-to-day basis! In this article, we’ve decided to share the four strategies that worked best for us so you, too, can live a more efficient and productive life.
Now, without wasting any more of your time, let's learn more about time management strategies for photographers!
Check out the video above by Jeff Su to discover eight time management tips that changed his life.
Table of Contents
- Creating Efficient Workflows for Time Management
- Time Management Requires Minimizing Distractions and Interruptions
- Effective Time Blocking is a Top Time Management Strategy
- Outsource and Delegate to Maximize Your Time Management Strategies
- More Photography Time Management Strategies
- Recommended Photography Gear
Creating Efficient Workflows for Time Management
There are two types of ways to work: efficiently and inefficiently. You want to be in the first group because efficient photographers typically accomplish two or three times the amount of work in the same period of time. Furthermore, being efficient will give you more free time to do what you love with people you care about. But how do you create efficient workflows? Let’s find out!
The first way is by developing standardized processes for client communication, booking inquiries, project management, and ordering prints. Next, you should use automation tools or templates to automate routine tasks such as answering emails, scheduling appointments, and generating invoices. Finally, we recommend utilizing batch-processing techniques for tedious yet time-consuming work like editing, blogging, and posting to social media.
One excellent way to streamline your sales process is to sign up for Lumaprints’ store integration tool. It lets you install shopping carts from popular platforms like Etsy, Amazon, and Shopify into your online store so clients can purchase photography prints directly from your website.
Time Management Requires Minimizing Distractions and Interruptions
Photo by Yuri_Arcurs via iStock
Humans have been getting distracted for centuries. With that said, staying focused at work has never been harder than it is today due to modern technology and shrinking attention spans. Luckily, there are photography time management strategies that minimize distractions and interruptions. Let’s explore a few of them.
The most effective one is creating a distraction-free work environment wherever you work (home, office, photo studio, etc.). You can do this by reducing clutter, turning off notifications on your devices, and listening to music or podcasts that help you focus. Also, if you are a talkative person, working alone is a good idea.
Another time management tip is establishing dedicated work hours and physical or digital work boundaries. This is especially important for self-employed and freelance photographers who build their own schedules. To avoid multitasking, you can experiment with productivity techniques like the Pomodoro Technique, the Eisenhower Method, and time-blocking.
Learn More:
Effective Time Blocking is a Top Time Management Strategy
Photo by grinvalds via iStock
Let’s examine time-blocking in more detail since it's one of today's most common and effective time management strategies. There are multiple important steps to time-blocking correctly. The first is sitting down and prioritizing your high-value tasks. For example, you should allocate more time to revenue-earning tasks than creative passion projects.
Once you know how much time you want to spend on each task, you must go to your calendar (preferably a digital calendar) and block out specific time slots for meetings, photo shoots, editing sessions, administrative work, etc. Clearly labeling the slots in advance lets you know when to do what and will keep you focused on the task at hand.
We highly recommend building a little bit of “flex time” into your schedule to accommodate unexpected changes or emergencies that will inevitably pop up from time to time. One final time-blocking tip is that if you know you are more productive and focused at certain times of the day, try to plan your most important and rigorous tasks for those times.
Outsource and Delegate to Maximize Your Time Management Strategies
One lesson we learned the hard way was believing we had to do everything for our photography business. We spent years slaving away and rejecting outside help before making a change, and man, was it eye-opening. We became a more successful business overnight by outsourcing and delegating monotonous tasks that took up too much of our valuable time!
Before outsourcing and delegating work, you must complete a cost-benefit analysis to determine the most efficient use of your time and resources. You can then optimize your time management by continuing to do the most essential work while relinquishing the simpler tasks.
Editing and retouching photos, designing photo albums, and completing administrative duties are jobs you can easily outsource to highly trained professionals or virtual assistants. Two good resources for finding freelancers to help you are Upwork and Fiverr.
Similarly, you can delegate non-core business activities like marketing, accounting, and social media management to trusted team members or external companies. Processing and shipping orders is generally a huge time-waster. Therefore, we recommend switching to a dropshipping fulfillment method.
More Photography Time Management Strategies
Photo by Andranik Hakobyan via iStock
Those are four photography time management strategies that have worked wonders for us throughout the years. However, they aren’t the only ways to become more effective with your time. With that in mind, check out the list below of more time management strategies for photographers to help speed up workflow and improve productivity.
- Stop procrastinating and use your time wisely.
- Set achievable goals and realistic deadlines, and stick to them.
- Develop routines that help you save time and work efficiently.
- Prioritize your tasks in order of importance.
- Hire outside help if necessary.
Recommended Photography Gear
Disclaimer: Our articles might have affiliate links and the occasional sponsored content, but don't sweat it – if you buy something, we get a little kickback at no extra cost to you, and we only hype products we truly believe in!
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- Four Beautiful Ways to Display Your Photography Prints