Photography Business - Creating a Daily Schedule - Judith Soule – Portrait Photographer

If you are running a photography business, it can be hard to stay on task.

Since there are no office mates, or boss breathing down your neck – deadlines can seem flexible… and sometimes things don’t always get done when they need to be finished.

It has been proven that having a daily routine will definitely boost productivity.

We are about to head into the fall season, and that brings super busy wedding/portrait season.

If I want to stay on task, and make sure to accomplish everything – it’s going to take some discipline and staying on task.

Photography Business – Creating a Daily Schedule

Here is an example of what a typical daily schedule looks life for us:

6am – Wake up, meditate, post to Instagram, wake up my son for High School

6:30am – Wake up my other two kids for school, get my hubbys coffee ready for work

7:30am – My daughter goes to school, sit down to answer morning emails

8:30am – My son goes to school, make a cup of coffee, finish the day’s blog post and share on social media

Morning Schedule

9:30am – 12:30pm – Primary Work Hours

This time is reserved for those tasks that are super important and need to be completed.
Some things that I typically do during the mornings are editing photos, developing/finessing course content, writing blog posts, personal education, etc.

If I want to keep myself pumped up and inspired, I turn on 80’s Cardio Radio on Pandora.
Seriously, check it out – you can thank me later ????
Also, checking out other photography inspirations is a surefire way to get motivated.
One of my favorite sites to watch is CreativeLive – they are an amazing resource on anything in the creative industry!

12:30-1pm – Lunch! Usually I try and eat away from my computer, but (if we’re being honest) it doesn’t always happen. However, even if I’m sitting in my office eating lunch, I will still do something mindless like scroll social media, read a book, watch trashy tv, etc.

Afternoon Schedule

1-2:30pm – Secondary Work Hours

This is when I’m going to be calling clients, sending invoices and email follow ups, creating wedding day schedules, etc.

2:30pm – My high schooler son gets home, and our schedule is for us both to sit downstairs at the kitchen island and go over his homework.

I will literally sit there with him while he works, answering questions if he needs help.

And for me, I am doing mindless work, like editing photos. If i get interrupted, it’s not a big deal, because it’s not taking up a lot of brain space.

3pm – My daughter gets home from elementary school, she and my son will trade off, and we will sit at the counter and do her homework together.

4pm – Wrap up and Daily Review.

When I’m looking at my schedule for the current day, I assess what needs to be moved and completed the next day.

Then I will end the day by writing the next day’s to-do list, so I don’t feel like it’s hanging over my head.

I will also decide when the tasks need to be accomplished (primary work hours, secondary, etc).

That way, I know what needs to be accomplished, and have a plan for how/when to get it completed.

Creating a list of tasks has tremendously helped my peace of mind.

Instead of sitting down in the morning and being overwhelmed with “what should I do?!”, it’s already been taken care of.

That way, I can stay focused on one thing at a time instead of keeping it all in my tiny squirrel brain.

Or worse – trying to remember it, and forgetting something important!