morsla: (Default)
I've discovered the thread linking all my disparate jobs and hobbies together: a ridiculous attention to detail, bordering on obsessive/compulsive :) I seem to enjoy the jobs that most people find soul-destroying, like spotting misplaced commas at ten paces or paintng the eyeballs on tiny figurines. Here's hoping that there will always be a demand for minutiae, as they form the nano-scale foundations of my career.

I'm now working at Synergy Publishing two days a week, with two projects to occupy my time. The first is a book - a memoir, to be precise. I started work on it last week, but it's on hold for a while as there is still a lot of editing to finish. It's the second book I've designed - the first being the Weapons of the Gods Companion... I hadn't realised at the time just how far into the deep end I leaped with that project. Memoirs and novels are serenely calm in comparison. Five text styles instead of thirty, one author instead of half a dozen...

Project #2 is an educational journal called "Junior Horizons," which is actually a lot of fun to design. It's aimed at pre-school and early primary teachers, and also has information for parents of pre-schoolers. It's a riot of colour, fonts and illustrations. It's also a nice manageable 16 pages. I spent today re-buildng the layout templates, as it looks suspiciously like the file has been edited and re-saved for every issue they've ever worked on it.

I'm still in the process of sorting out paperwork like an ABN (I need one!) and GST registration (perhaps - only compulsory if my annual turnover will be over $50k). I'm planning to quiz the accountant at work tomorrow, to find out exactly how this works. Wading through the ATO website was on my list of things to do eventually, but I didn't expect to start two jobs before I got my feet under me.

My goal for the week is to register for all the legal things I need to do, and then start sending out invoices for all the work I've done over the last few months. With the exception of the "hobby income" (painting), I haven't actually been paid for any work I've done this year... high time I sorted that out. I'm also thinking of rolling my painting income in with all the other elements of the Sole Trader operation (essentially considering painting, writing and design all as "professional" income sources). If I have to start collecting GST on my income, I might as well claim back the GST component of the things I spend most of my money on.

Thanks to those who surprised [livejournal.com profile] aeliel on her birthday :) She's headed back to Blackwood for a couple of days, so I have an empty house at the moment. I feel like I've stepped back a few years in time... I'm back late from work, the music is cranked up nice and loud, and I'm heading upstairs to paint until my eyes drop out. Plus ça change...
morsla: (Default)
I haven't really worked from home since I wrote my thesis last year, and that was in a different house. I've noticed a few things that work differently here - mainly because I'm not beseiged in a single room that had my computer, bed, painting desk and bookshelf in it. Physically separating the tasks helps to differentiate them, which means I don't bring stray thoughts with me when I sit down to work. Sleeping in one place, painting in another, typing in another.

Early starts: I never thought I'd say it, but I like getting started on things early in the morning. By "early," I mean around 8am. By the time I've started running out of momentum it's time to eat breakfast, and that gives me a natural pause to step back from whatever I'm doing. An "early start" used to refer to my habit of starting a new piece of work at about 1am, and working until sunrise...

Painting: Having a spare room to paint in is fantastic. I don't need to clear things away when I want to do something else, and I save all the time I'd normally spent setting up the workspace. I'm painting a bunch of things for [livejournal.com profile] bishi_wannabe at the moment, and Lon may be supplying me with enough figures to keep me painting for the entirety of next year. I've packed away most of the models on my desk, but intentionally left a few distractions. If I'm stuck for inspiration (or if I want to paint a different colour for a while), I just pick up one of the extra models.

Computer: Not nearly as efficient as it could be. I use my computer for work (InDesign, Photoshop, Word, email), and for random timewasting (I'm an admin on a large forum... enough said). It's getting harder to wrestle my attention back towards work, when all the rest of the internet is calling. I think I'll make a new login for my PC, in an attempt to keep a "different" place to do my real work in. Different desktop, only work-related tabs in Firefox, etc... if I don't have the physical resources to do my computer work in two places, I'll take up some more virtual real estate instead.

Food: Breakfast has a natural place in the day - when I run out of steam from the first sectionof work. Dinner also has a place - when [livejournal.com profile] aeliel gets home from work. So, what do I do about lunch? If I'm bored I'll eat all day, but lately I get so absorbed in the tasks at hand that I forget all about it. Any suggestions? My stomach is not a reliable gauge of how regularly I've eaten.

September 2014

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