The title of this article is probably the most 2020 thing I’ve ever written. Like many people across the country, I started working from home last month. At first, it was actually fun. But after the novelty wore off, reality quickly set in.



How long will this last? When will things go back to normal? How do I help others around me that are losing their jobs? Will my family be ok?



As it turns out, sitting inside my apartment and obsessing over these questions all day isn’t good for my mental health.



Despite how crazy things have been, the motion design community has really pulled together, and that’s encouraging. There’s been a lot of solid advice, insights, and general wisdom going around, that I thought I’d put it together here to share. Everyone’s situation is different, but we’re all being affected. Here are some of the top concerns and problems our industry is facing, and some resources on how to tackle them.



Being Laid Off or Furloughed

This one is by far the most stressful and difficult. School of Motion put together an excellent list of financial resources for freelancers, but there's a lot of info in there that can help anyone going through a rough patch.



If you’re really in a bind, there are a couple of ways to give yourself some breathing room in the short term. A lot of monthly expenses can be waived, deferred or reduced. Here are a couple of examples.



- Call your phone and internet providers and see if they can offer reduced rates or other payment plans.



- Other payments such as auto loans and credit cards can often be deferred. Just make sure you discuss repayment plans and know what to expect in a couple of months.



- Federal student loans can be delayed for quite some time as well.



This is an unprecedented global crisis - people are willing to work with you, but you have to ask.



If You're Worried About Being Laid Off

Maybe the studio or production house you’re working at is getting slow and you’re concerned. It’s never a bad idea to create a backup plan.



Make it a goal to build up a 12 - 24 month cash reserve if you don’t already have one. You can reduce or pause investing in your 401K to build up a reserve if needed. 12 months might sound like a lot, but in a situation like this, it doesn’t hurt to overprepare.



Take 30 minutes to make a spreadsheet of other studios or companies you could reach out to if you lose your job. It will be a lot easier to have this ready to go ahead of time.



Projects are Drying Up

For some freelancers, projects have disappeared overnight. From my research and talking with others, there’s a couple of ways to handle this. The first is pretty obvious: reach out to old contacts and studios.



If you’re running short on ideas, try digging through old emails in your inbox. If you go back far enough, you’d be surprised to find some great clients in the past you may have forgotten about. It doesn’t hurt to reach out to old contacts and see if they need work. Don't be afraid to reach out to other freelancers and let them know you're looking. It might feel weird asking people for work in a time like this, but everyone knows that freelancers need to continue working. You may be surprised at how responsive some studios and agencies are.



Anytime I get an inquiry for freelance work I save it into a folder. This also comes in handy if someone I know is looking for work, and I’m trying to help them get connected.



It also helps to focus on sectors that are actually doing well and scaling up because of the crisis. There are a few obvious contenders, such as in-home entertainment, communication, home delivery services, and healthcare. Within each of those categories are a number of different businesses and subcategories you could focus on. As an example, I got a request for an animation from a wine delivery service. That's just one example, but it shows that there's a number of niche areas to look into.



Either way, it's important to take strong action, immediately. Noah Kagan put together this great video to walk you through the steps of making your business recession proof. The main points here are:



1 — Defense. Lock up your finances and ALL costs ASAP. Do an audit of your expenses and cut what you can.

2 — Stash your cash. Work to expedite any payments that are owed to you. Offer a slight discount if necessary.

3 — Offer your existing customers something new. Get creative and see if there's something outside of motion design that you could offer to meet their needs better.

4 — Help companies go online.

5 — Document your skills on Teachable, Skillshare, YouTube. The perfect time to start making tutorials.

6 — Help one person for free.

7 — Learn something new.

8 — Sell your past customers something new. This goes back to my previous point about finding old clients.

9 — Offer companies a way to reduce their costs with freelancers.

10 — Get an unfair advantage; be priceless.

11 — Connect your customers or your future customers.



Also take note of what industries to avoid. Goldman Sachs put together an analysis on how different industries will be affected in the months to come. Unsurprisingly, the travel, manufacturing and real estate industries will be hit hard.



Something else to consider: this may also be your moment to work remotely for a dream studio. How many times have you seen a posting for an incredible studio, only to be told that it's “onsite only”. Now may possibly be the time that you can start reaching out to these studios, since everyone is currently remote. It's worth giving it a shot!



Complete and Utter Lack of Focus

I'll be the first to say that there were days when it was hard to stay on track. Even with a quiet workspace and no interuptions, I found myself struggling to keep my head in my work. Besides the general sense of impending doom, there’s a constant itch to check the news and see the latest updates. There's three main practices I rely on in order to combat this.



1. Pick one main priority for the day and stick to it. There’s too much going on right now and it’s easy to get mentally overloaded. My biggest mistake is that I would load up my day with a million things I wanted to get done. Just pick one thing and focus on it. Even if it’s just one project.



2. Schedule everything. I failed to make a consistent schedule for the first couple of days working from home. Taking time to block things out is critical. Just because you don’t have a daily commute doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be more productive. You have to budget your time in advance and work to stay on track.



3. I’ve written about this before, but using apps like Self Control is a life saver. Use it to block Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. This is more important now than ever, since it’s so tempting to check the news for the latest updates.



Running Low on Creative Juice

In most circumstances, being forced to stay at home would be the perfect chance to be insanely productive and creative. I have a massive running list of things I want to work on. And yet - I still found myself wasting my downtime. I didn’t “feel” creative or inspired.



Something I’ve found that’s helpful for getting creatively “unstuck” is to experiment with a new hobby on the side. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or related to motion design. Just something that’s genuinely enjoyable and engages the right side of your brain. For me, this has been composing music on my laptop. I suck at it, but it’s fun and gives me a creative release.



Going Stir Crazy

Maybe you haven’t lost your job, but you’re looking for ways to stay productive. If you have pent up energy, but aren’t sure where to put it, here are some ideas on ways to get ahead during this time:



- Take time to rebrand your portfolio and cut together a new reel

- Organize business/ admin work if you have an LLC or need to complete other paperwork

- Take that online class you’ve been eyeing

- Connect with your peers. This is a great time to check in with other people in the community to see how they’re doing.





Helping Others

Besides donating to causes, one of the best things you can do is refer clients to other freelancers that might need it more. Since I’m full time, I’ve been deferring a couple of requests for freelance work to other people that could use it. This isn't just good for building your own network, it benefits and strengthens the motion design community as a whole.

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