Dear Designer: How Do You Build a Scalable, Low-Stress Workflow as a Designer?
When I got into Squarespace design, I had one goal: a lifestyle business. I wanted the mental energy and the actual time in my day to not be constantly on the verge of burning out. I had this vision of going for margaritas in the afternoon and working a little at night if I felt like it. Haha, that was the dream.
The key to unlocking this margarita-filled dream required… data. Specifically, knowing where my time was actually going. I love the idea of tracking my time, but I’m so bad at it. Best intentions going into it, but inevitably, I’ll forget to either turn on or turn off the timer or get lost in a tab. But this is the most important thing I've done for all my businesses.
My goal was to work two hours a day, and there’s no way to get there without knowing what those two hours should contain—or if you’re completely underestimating your scopes and timelines.
So first, track your time for at least one week.
How to actually track your time without hating your life
Here’s a trick I’ve been using lately: Use Claude as your time-tracking accountability buddy. Clock in, tell it what time it is, and what you’re working on. Clock out when you switch tasks. At the end of the week, ask for a report.
You can even tell it how you’re feeling about each task. Annoyed? Bored? Wishing someone else could do this? Claude logs all of it. The emotional data is very useful, because when you’re looking at what to systemize or delegate, you already know what those tasks are and how long they should take.
Systemize while you’re in the work, not later
At our agency, ilovecreatives Studio, we systemize everything we do regularly. Client onboarding, contracts, invoicing, Notion project timelines, budget spreadsheets, proposals, canned emails for every stage of the client process. We even write out every single step as a checklist so our brains don’t have to hold it.
Most designers put systemizing off until they have a dedicated block of time. That time rarely comes. What works for us is doing it in the moment, when your brain understands exactly why the system needs to exist and all the little nuances involved. Take the extra hour right then.
Delegate without losing your voice
Hot take! The first thing I wanted to delegate was the… creative work. I was also running ilovecreatives, our course business, and I didn’t have the time. I get why most designers resist this part—the work represents you. Handing it off feels like handing off your reputation.
You don’t have to hand off all of it at once. You can own the discovery, the moodboarding, the parts of the creative process that actually light you up, and have someone else build out the rest. Or you can do what I did and subcontract designers until you find the person you really love.
The key is to be proactively clear about what you need and honest when it’s not working. And you can do this without being mean!
If something feels awkward with a collaborator (a.k.a. the conversation you’ve been avoiding), have it immediately. Awkwardness is a signal. It means something needs to be said, and the longer it sits in your head as unresolved emotional weight, the more it’s quietly stressing you out. Keep it human, get on a call. Be honest. Say what you need. And if working together just isn’t right, make the call quickly too. Sticking with someone who doesn't respond to feedback well isn’t being a good boss. It’s not fair to either of you.
One last tip! If you are bringing someone into your process, ensure you have two internal reviews before anything goes to the client. If you don’t build this into your timeline, you will feel stressed, your contractor will feel like they’re messing up, and the work will show it.
Be honest about your capacity before you’re over it
Every designer hits a season (usually Q3 or Q4) where there’s more work than capacity. The reason it usually becomes overwhelming isn’t the volume. It’s because we were blindly optimistic and said yes without being honest about our capacity.
Remember the “track your time” tip from above? Yep, it applies here. We put estimated times on every single task in our project management system. Every design task, every admin task, even “email client to let them know feedback is ready.” All of it has an estimate. It’s the only way to actually see your capacity at a macro level and give clients honest timelines. Surprises are what damage client relationships. A heads-up never does.
Those awkward conversations? Even more important here. Tell your clients the truth about your capacity. If their feedback would take six hours per page to implement, tell them. Say: “These revisions will take [time], and here’s what that means for the timeline. Let us know if this works for you.” Most clients actually respect transparency. It positions you as a partner who understands the real cost of decisions.
The resentment tax
The thing that creates the most stress in this business isn’t workload. It’s resentment.
It usually starts small. A client asks for something extra, you do it for free because you’re being nice. Except now you’re keeping a mental tab they don’t know exists. You’re building resentment toward someone who has no idea it’s happening, which isn’t fair to either of you.
The kindest thing you can do is be clear upfront. What’s included, what costs more, and if you do decide to throw something in, say so. “This additional feedback round is out of scope, but I’m happy to do it for [amount] versus our rate of [amount] for an extra round of revisions.” Even a small acknowledgment changes the dynamic.
A lifestyle business isn’t a fantasy. But it requires treating your time like the actual resource it is. Track it, protect it, and be honest about it with everyone, especially yourself. The margaritas are waiting!
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