We’ve all been a freelancer at some point in our lives. We’ve all wanted freedom with what we work. And who does not love being one’s own boss?
Freelancing provides a great flexibility to work all by and for oneself. While this is a good thing, it comes with its set of challenges. You need to become productive and remain inspired every second so that you stay motivated and on track. As a freelancer, you do not have anybody on your shoulder to push you to meet your deadlines or to tell you when you have missed your target.
It is always important to know how to maintain your productivity even as you continue your journey as a freelancer. It’s not difficult. Check out these 6 best ways to maintain your productivity.
1. Make a schedule
The most important way to ensure that you remain on the right track is to create a routine. A plan will ensure that you manage your time well, thereby limiting cases of delays or procrastination.
You should consider periods of the day that you are most productive and work during those times. This will ensure that all your energy and motivation is channeled into your job, making it as best as it could be. Moreover, it is advisable to make your to-do-list a night before. Creating your routine a night before will greatly save your time since you will know exactly what to start with rather than wasting time on deciding what to do the next day.
In your routine, you should remember to allocate time for emergencies. An overly rigid schedule will leave you frustrated since you will be forced time and again to disobey your routine.
Use tools like RescueTime to find your ideal work-life balance. Evernote can also help you save everything you want, share and store as per your requirements.
2. Avoid distractions
The internet is a crucial tool for freelancers. It is through the social media that you get to promote your brand, find your clients and increase your network. However, the internet is laden with several distractions that may hinder you from achieving your target.
You may be tempted to play online games, respond to an “urgent” email or post something “interesting” on your Facebook or Twitter account. All these activities not only eat into your working time but also reduce your productivity and the energy to complete tasks.
It is deemed wise, therefore, to log off from all your social media accounts during your working hours. Moreover, you can block sites which may serve as a distraction for the period that you will be working.
If you are working from home, you might find yourself in worst situation because the kids might be screaming at the top of their lungs or the dog might be barking. The best approach is to move to a quiet room to ensure that your ideas do not evaporate.
3. Set goals for yourself
Goals are generally a reminder of where you want to be future. They go a long way to making your mind focused and more prepared to face anything that you may encounter as a freelancer. The first step is to write your daily goals and religiously stick to them.
Daily goals will ensure that you monitor your progress every day so that you know which areas you are ok and which areas require more effort. Also, you should not forget about long term goals. For instance, when it comes to finances, you need to make sure you earn enough as required to survive and enjoy your life.
You will also note down how many days you would like to work in a week and from there you can calculate how much you need to charge for your services daily. By doing this, you will remember that if you do not achieve your daily goals, then you risk achieving your long term goals. To ensure that you remember your goals clearly, you could frame them and put them on your wall.
To ensure that you remember your goals clearly, you could frame them and put them on your wall.
4. Automate processes if possible
Using the right tools for your project could make a huge difference since they can assist you to make your work easier and faster. This will enable you to free up time, thereby allowing you to work on other projects.
Consider tools that can help you track time so that you can beat deadlines and also keep track with your payment. Moreover, you can use cloud-based storage to manage your project files so that you can access them from anywhere and with ease.
Start a personal blog where you can add your portfolio and details so that you don’t need to go through every emails at your inbox where people come and ask you what your experience is or what you are good at.
Other tools that can be of great help are those that assist you in organizing your projects and auto spelling tools if you are a writer. However, do not let tools overpower your personal touch by allowing them to take over your work.
5. Take regular breaks and remember to reward yourself
The mistake that most budding freelancers commit is working on their projects for 3 to 4 hours without taking a break. Long hours makes you feel tired therefore lowering your productivity. Always ensure to take regular and structured breaks.
For instance, you can decide to take a five minutes break for every forty minutes that you put into your writing, coding or web design. This will ensure that you are relaxed and will allow you to finish with the same level of creativity that you started with.
Moreover, remember to pat yourself on your back when you complete your project by doing something that you may find interesting, maybe watching a movie, surfing the net, going on a vacation and several other activities.
6. Avoid unnecessary meetings
Meetings are very important for any business especially to foster relationships with clients. However, sometimes they may be time-consuming and not necessarily important.
You should gauge the level of importance of any meeting that you are set to attend. Can the issue which you are going to talk about be discussed through a phone call or an email? If so, it is advisable you use the channel which can easily relay the information without consuming much of your time.
The bottom line: The productivity of freelance employees directly affects the quality of work that they present. As a freelance writer, you should try to incorporate these tips into your daily activities and rest assured you will not be disappointed.
Business & Finance Articles on Business 2 Community(39)
