I have recently gone through a transfer from a temp position I held for over 18 months to now being able to work on a project basis with clients and also create for myself. Where I run into struggles is inspiration vs busy work vs activity.
Those inspirational activities are awesome (for me this is golf, sports, video games, etc.), but need to be limited if they are taking too much time.
Busy work is great, it means i'm working right?! Well not necessarily. This means that I have a project that I am working on and I am vested in as I should be, but it isn't putting bread on the table so to say. Busy work is things I need to do, work on my resumé, portfolio, website or one of the many other projects for YoungNixon. These things aren't necessary, but will hopeully help acquire projects faster in the future.
Activity, finally, we are getting somewhere. As a graphic designer it is my job to care about what my client cares about and complete the project to my fullest extent. However, you can't fall stagnant in the other two tasks if you want to keep the ball rolling after this project is complete.
How do you balance these three things and do you have any advice that you could give in their regard?