Time is precious.

If you're anything like me, though, you can sometimes get lost in editing for hours and hours! Or maybe a quick site visit turns into an afternoon talking about the furniture arrangement. Unfortunately, as a business owner, this can mean bad news.

All those little bits of extra time wasted can have a big effect on your business's chances of longevity. You'll find yourself spending tons of time on jobs that aren't paying enough money to justify the hours spent. Thankfully, it's never too late to improve your time management!

First things first...

A good place to start is by evaluating your rates and whether they're in a good range for your market and your level of expertise. Our rates should be growing with our business, so it's something that needs to be evaluated at least once a year. How do you know if you're even close to where you should be, though?! Head to Field Note:  "How much to charge for interior photography" for some help in knowing

Even if you know your rates need to change, it can be super hard to actually raise them. So The Grove has some great tips for exactly how to increase your rates when the time comes!

If it's not about your rates...

Then it's time to look at your time management. Are you lingering too much on each part of a project? It's time to pay attention to how much time you spend on each step of the process and then adjust your rates or your process to make it work. 

For example, I know that when I plan a shoot with a designer, I can typically expect:

• no more than one hour commute to the location (each way)
• plan for approximately 1.5 hours in each room to set it up and photograph
• editing will most likely take 2x however long my photoshoot was (so for a 4-hour shoot, I estimate 8 hours of editing)

On the flip side, when I do a real estate shoot I know to plan for:

• 30-45 minute commute each way to the location
• no more than 2 hours shooting
• no more than 2 hours editing

Knowing your times will help you plan out your rates AND your schedule! You'll be less overloaded during the day if you set aside the correct amount of time, and clients will feel confident in your expertise if you estimate an amount of time that works perfectly (rather than telling them it'll be a 2-hour shoot and it turns into 4 hours!).

Of course, all this also means that you should be clear on the difference between shoots offered, like between real estate photography and interior photography. This way you can explain to your clients why the rates, times, and expectations are indeed so different!
 

But everything is urgent!

Finally, time management comes down to prioritizing and juggling. It may feel like everything is urgent and must be done RIGHT NOW, but it really isn't. It can be tough to figure out what to do first, but here's an easy way to break tasks down into categories to prioritize.  

So there you go! You're now fully loaded with tools to help you use that precious time in a smarter way, both for your business and your own well-being. And who knows... you may even find some free time for yourself!

xo,

Natalia