18 Things Designers Can Do To Make Their Life Better During Lockdown

Well, this year has taken a bit of a weird turn, to say the least. When the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve and we entered the new decade all doe-eyed and excited, I don’t think anyone could have predicted what would be happening in the world today…

Now we’re officially in a coronavirus lockdown, to pass the time and make our lives a bit more organised, I’ve made a list of things that designers and creatives could do during these three weeks in between working from home, binge-watching Netflix and feeling a little confused as to how this has all happened.

This post was originally shared on my Instagram account.

Update your Macbook

We all know that we’ve dismissed that notification way too many times, take this time to update your computer or any technological device you have to the latest software. Your laptop will thank you.

Update your Creative Cloud and other software

Again, now is the time to stop ignoring the notifications and just update everything on our computer to keep our machines working in tip-top condition, especially seeing as they’re probably being used even more frequently than they were before.

Clean your screen, keyboard and mouse

Doing it to the tune of happy birthday is optional. We touch our keyboards and mice a lot, so it’s important we keep our laptops and computers hygienic during this pandemic. Whilst your there give your screen a nice buff too, get rid of any fingerprints and dust that have made home over the last month.

Back up your files

Just in case, God forbid, your laptop decides to pack it in (based on how well the year has gone so far, I wouldn’t want to risk it, 2020 is a sassy b*tch), take this time to backup all your important design files onto an external hard drive. If you’re super cautious like me, then back your external hard drive up onto another external hard drive for an inception style fail-safe system. Continue this process for as many times as you deem necessary.

Check your website is up to date

Now is a good time to go back and see if you could spruce up your website. Is the copyright year correct in your footer? Are you latest projects up there? Have you linked up your social media feeds? There are lots of small quick ways that you can give your website a bit of spring clean that doesn't require too much effort.

Update your portfolio

Following on from checking your website is up to date, have you mocked up your latest designs and written up some accompanying text to support your designs? As designers, we infamously put off the dreaded portfolio update, but now is a better time than any to get rid of that project from 5 years ago that you didn’t even enjoy doing…

Arrange a mini photoshoot

I know that getting dressed, washing your hair and applying make-up (if that’s your thing) is now a mammoth task, but if you can pry yourself out of your pyjamas then why not use this time to take some quick snaps of yourself and update your profile picture/bio pictures across social and your website. Plus you’ll feel fabulous afterwards and people will look up to you in awe for actually brushing your hair.

Work on a personal project

If you’ve been unfortunate enough to lose work as a result of covid-19 (99.9% of the population) then why not exercise your creative freedom without client restraint - don’t get us wrong, we love our clients, but having the luxury of complete creative freedom is glorious. If you’re stuck for ideas you can find a creative brief from brief box.

Create a personal project

If you don’t already have a creative project on the go, then why not create one? If you’re stuck for ideas maybe chat to your friends and brainstorm some ideas, or you could take a look at brief box for some inspiration.

Start a blog

If you’re good with words (or even if you’re not!) why not exercise your creative writing skills and add a blog to your website? Blogs are a great way to drive traffic to your website, whilst also showcasing your expertise and opinions on specialist subjects.

Write some content for your new blog

If you’re stuck on how to write a blog, take a look at answer the public to see what people are frequently searching for. You can then create a website based around these topics, alternatively, ask your followers or clients what they’d like to learn more about. A blog doesn't just have to be words, you could also utilise your inner YouTuber and create some killer video content for your blog and socials.

Learn a new design programme

That programme that you’ve been wanting to learn? Why not learn it now! There’s tonnes of online courses (free and paid) that can show you how to use different software. You could even skill swap with a friend to teach each other how you use your current programmes and compare tips and tricks.

Create bulk social media posts

We schedule our social media using Planoly and bulk create and schedule content for our Instagram page. Why not list a couple of ideas that you could post about on social media and find or create some lovely graphics to go along with them. This will save you time and allow you to free up your time to engage with your audience more.

Work on your websites SEO

Everyone’s SEO can be improved. Search for some key words that you’d like to rank with and create some content around them, whether this be video, blogs or web pages. Another great way to boost SEO is through backlinks - reach out to fellow freelancers or businesses and see if you can guest blog on their website in exchange for a link back to your site.

Pin all your designs on Pinterest

Pinterest is an unutilized traffic source for a lot of designers, go through your old projects, pick out the best bits and make them Pinterest-able! Take a look at which pins are most successful and replicate that in your Pins.

Update a behance / dribbble account

Similarly to Pinterest, Behance and Dribbble are a great way to be inspired by and connect with other designers. These platforms are also used by prospective employers, so are a great way to showcase your design work.

Unsubscribe from all your spam emails

We’ve been emailed by every single one of our subscriber lists about covid-19 update, now is a good time to look through those emails and unsubscribe from those emails that you instantly delete to free up some space in your mailbox.

Organise your desktop files 

Delete all those unnecessary screenshots, rename your files and organise them neatly to give your desktop a bit of a spring clean. It’s also a great time to go through and delete all 1000 screenshots of your home screen you have on your smartphone too…

Hopefully there’s enough stuff there to keep you busy for at least the first week of lockdown…

Let me know what you’re doing to keep the boredom at bay, and stay safe and stay home.