I had a rant last week about never having time to do anything. Not very professional really, so I thought I’d better redress the balance.
One of the beauties of being a freelancer is the ability to work when you want. Or that’s the theory anyway, the reality is that you’re generally rushed off your feet (if you’re any good anyway) and you don’t know what a weekend is. I’m generally a useless time manager, I fall into these pitfalls from time to time, but when I’m on a good day, this is what I do.
1. Make a plan and stick to it. A good old fashioned task list. It doesn’t matter whether you write it in some flashy time management software or on a grubby piece of paper, get it down.
2. If you can, set yourself goals to complete every hour. I find that motivates me.
2. Turn off the email, Twitter, Facebook etc
4. Shut the office door, break only at times you pre-arrange with yourself. A kind of working contract.
5. Do regular tasks at set times. Get unpleasant things like the accounts out of the way on a Monday morning. Get a system because we all know things work better with a system don’t we?
6. No food (except lunch), reading, television or any other breaks (coffee’s fine, part if the pre-arranged stuff)
7. Make sure your family is understanding. Just because you work from home doesn’t mean to say you have time to do all the household chores. Whatever you use to earn your livelihood is an office. Treat it as such.
8. Don’t have rows with your family either. There’s nothing better to kill your concentration than a row.
9. Get some sleep. If you’re really tired, now amount of caffeine or Red Bull will cover up for it. We all burn the candle at both ends as freelancers, but there comes a time when the body says “no”. I write this of course at 1.14 in the morning with my body telling me it’s time for some shut eye.
10. Don’t be afraid to give up from time to time and do something else. Especially if you’re a creative and inspiration won’t come. Do something else on the task list, something mundane preferably, you’ll feel refreshed if you do.
