10 Valuable Distractions

Is there anything but work? Sometimes I ask myself that question and answer with a resounding “yes.” I spend the day auditioning, working with clients, and marketing. I know it sounds oversimplified, but the truth of the matter is that’s spot on.

Well, the above is almost spot on. I’d like to add another item. Getaway. According to the dictionary on my iMac, getaway is an escape, or a quick departure, especially after committing a crime. I’d like to rewrite that last part to read, especially after committing to and completing an amount of work. In other words, I take a break.

You need to give your mind a mental vacation from what you do everyday. Focusing on one thing, being a successful voice-talent, can be a source of fatigue and even stress. Here’s a list of breaks I suggest. All are meant to get you away from your workspace.

Stretch

Instead of shaking out your muscles at your desk, find another place in your home. A momentary change of scenery will cause your brain to wake up to evaluate your new surroundings.

Give your iPhone the ability to help you stay flexible and comfortable while you work with Ergonomics. From the App Store: Ergonomics is a complete mobile workplace health solution that offers ergonomic equipment setup advice, a variety of workplace specific stretching exercises, and programmable reminders to help you time your breaks.

Enjoy the stretch.

Stretching Exercises at Your Desk: 12 Simple Tips

Hydrate Yourself

Do you fill a huge jug of water and lug it to your desk every morning? Adding a few variations to your daily intake and reducing the quantities will give you reason to get away for a few moments. Take a midmorning break for non-caffeine tea, and lemon water in the afternoon. Both are a refreshing change from water.

How to Learn How to Properly Hydrate Myself Throughout the Day

Eat a Snack

It’s easy to get over-focused on a project and not eat. I’ve missed lunch several times because of my desire to get to a stopping point. When this happens, I eat a snack. A piece of fruit will help you get to dinner time.

17 Healthy Snacks for Work

Listen to Music

The days when my mind is going in a bazillion different directions at once, I allow myself to indulge in a music break. I don’t want to relax, necessarily I just want a slight distraction to get my mind off everything. I’m a big fan of old rock-n-roll, The Eagles, Lead Zeppelin and Nazareth are waiting on my iPhone for immediate relief.

Pandora | Songza | Spotify | Allmusic

Take a Walk

A few of the breaks mentioned above involve walking as part of the effort. Go further with this idea and take yourself outside for some fresh air. This could be around the block, down the road, up the street, or any other destination cliche you can think of. Disrupt your day with motion.

Walking: Trim your waistline, improve your health

Get the mail

This sounds ridiculously obvious, but I know it’s easy to forget. Owning this little task is an excuse to get yourself away from whatever you are focused on so intently.

Little Known Facts About the United States Postal Service

Call Somebody

We work in solitude all day and other than talking with clients (you do talk to your clients, right?) it can be a bit lonely. Give yourself 10-minutes to call somebody for a short chat break. Do it away from your workspace and computer so the only distraction you enjoy is the one that’s on the other end of the line.

How to Have a Great Phone Conversation

Read or Listen to a Book

My iPad is used for script reading and other freelance related tasks. Recently, I gave it another responsibility, to be the keeper of the books I read for leisure.  I’ve found many sources for digital books, my local library being one of them. I’ll take my iPad and find a comfy chair away from my work area and read for 10 or 15 minutes. It’s the perfect duration for a chapter.

New York Times Best Sellers | Audible

Pump Iron

This has nothing to do with laundry, which I’m sure is a huge relief to you. However, it does require that you take a trip to the gym. If you can, try taking a much needed midday break to exercise. Don’t limit yourself to working out. Look for classes that interest you and will help give your mind and body from your routine.

10 Minute Workout: Short, Intense Workout To Get Fit

Errands

Need a few groceries? Does your car need gas? Kids need a ride to after school sports? Jump on the opportunity to push away from the desk and take care of a few items on your personal or family to-do list. One or two short duration items will be the perfect distractions.

How to Make Your To-Do List Doable

Sitting at your desk all day might increase your productivity but it will also increase the size of your sit-upon-it-thingy and help fill your daily stress bucket. A few breaks is all it takes to help decrease the size of either one.

Other posts you might find interesting:

Five Tips for Better Client/Talent Workflow
JewelBeat: A New Royalty Free Music Source
Five Ways to be Remembered by Your Clients

Eight Handpicked Tools for Voice Talents

While I have a computer and mobile devices full of apps of every type, my browser provides access to countless web-based applications. Every once in a while I need a tool to help me with a specific task and I don’t necessarily want to install software that will sit practically unused on my hard drive. I already have more software than I use on my computer hard drive and mobile devices, that’s probably fodder for a different post.

A tool can be anything from a blog post with how-to-steps for getting a task done to an actual application that was created to run in a browser. There are eight tools I have bookmarked for easy access when the need arises. These have potential of being helpful to any type of freelancer and are listed here in no particular order.

Entrepreneur

What are voice talent and other freelancers if not entrepreneurs? We take on the challenge and risk associated with making our businesses unique, profitable and successful. Entrepreneur.com is a solid source of information about new business, the direction existing business is taking and articles on marketing, money and growing a business. Look to this site for inspiration.

YouTube

Sure, YouTube has a bizillion cat videos but it also has a wealth of videos on just about anything for your voiceover business. When I first set up QuickBooks and started taking payments through PayPal, I didn’t have a clue on how to process them. A quick search on YouTube revealed Setting Up PayPal in QB. I decided it was a keeper and have shared this how-to vid with other freelancers.

50 States

This is an amazing portal to state-based information. I use 50States.com for quick access to economic details to help me focus my marketing approach. Finding what industries are dominant in a given state provides access to key, potential clients. WARNING: If you are a fact junky, 50 States.com will derail your typical day of business if not used in moderation.

Mint

While I use QuickBooks for my business, I rely on Mint.com for my overall picture of business and personal accounts. After configuring it with my banking information it gives me a running total of where my money goes for an instant budget check. Have I exceeded my budget for Kapaws Iskreme? Well, yes I have and Mint alerts me with a notification. No more ice cream for the rest of the month.

Hightail

This file sharing tool was called YouSendIt until the first part of July 2013. It still functions the same. With Hightail.com you upload files to a folder and send an invitation to a collaborator (your client) so they can download your creation. There’s a free version available and a few options to pay. If you don’t have your own server for delivery of your files, Hightail.com is an alternative to consider

Time and Date

Several of my clients are based in other countries and it’s important for me to know when those clients are awake. TimeAndDate.com is my goto source for finding time zone information. The site also has access to time calculators and timers, calendars and environmental details. It’s like the Swiss Army Knife of everything time.

Freelance Folder

There is a community vibe attached to being a freelancer. I often have questions that aren’t voiceover specific, but more freelance general. My website of choice for such information is FreelanceFolder.com. Its team of writers do an amazing job of covering topical and relevant subjects. This site is perfect for anybody working on their own.

Words in a PowerPoint Presentation

A producer contacted me to narrate an e-learning module for one of his clients. There were over a hundred slides and each slide had a significant amount of text. How much text? Hard to say. To solve the word counting issues, Microsoft’s Office website has posted a solution, Counting the Number of Words in a PowerPoint Presentation. I have only needed this once so far but will be ready the next time a project like this comes along.

What are the best web-based tools that you’ve come across? Do you like using these types of tools?

 

Other posts you might find interesting:

Unplugged and Loved It!
Five Tips for Better Client/Talent Workflow
10 Things to Keep in Mind when Building a Home Studio

Unplugged and Loved It!

During the first part of June, I traveled with family and friends to celebrate a 50^th Wedding Anniversary. We took an Alaska cruise for seven-days and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, ports of call; amazing food and entertainment; and each other’s company. It was a relaxing and restful experience.

While preparing for the trip, I though seriously about what gadgets I should take and how I would maintain my business connections while away from my studio. Should I pack my laptop or could I get by with my iPad or maybe even my iPhone and my trusty travel mic? Where would I record on a huge cruise ship that had a constant rumble from the engines? What was the price of satellite wifi to remain connected while on board? Should I accept calls at sea? How much gear should I take?

The cruise was supposed to be a relaxing, fun time with the focus on my friend’s wedding anniversary. After giving this considerable thought, I came to the conclusion that I would unplug. Yup. Totally disconnect. The stress of where to record, how to maintain contact, and run my business onboard seemed, well, silly.  Risky? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.

The first thing I did was contact my clients with an e-mail letting them know well in advance that I was unplugging for seven-days and to contact me with any recording needs before then. I received many responses telling me to enjoy myself. Clients with voiceover needs contacted me immediately to set up session time. They were open to work with my schedule. I love my clients!

Time off was spectacular. I got to know my travel companions better. Spent time engaged with people face to face instead of gadget to gadget. Slept better than I had in a very long time. And felt like I had gobs of extra time on my hands.

Being unplugged is not overrated but does have some drawbacks. Since auditioning is the primary way I get hired, I missed out on a few of opportunities. Yes, it was a risk I considered and a price I paid.

One thing I’ll remember next time I unplug is to set up an e-mail auto response to let people know that I’m OOF (out of facility) and when I’ll be back. This will let prospective clients know that I’m not slow or ignoring them and existing clients who missed my unplugged e-mail that I’ll take care of their questions and needs soon after I arrive back home.

You know, everybody is SOOOO connected to everything. We spend a number of hours each day touching those connections to make sure we’re remembered. During the process we filter a significant amount of noise, content that just doesn’t fit a current agenda. It’s mentally exhausting. Unplugging and leaving the gadgets behind is a type of therapy. It was a little scary at first for me and by the end of the voyage, I was recharged and ready to plug back in.

Your experience may vary.

Other posts you might find interesting:

• JewelBeat: A New Royalty Free Music Source
• Five Tips for Better Client/Talent Workflow
• 10 Things to Keep in Mind when Building a Home Studio