Correctly organising your own time is vital for whatever activity you develop, but it becomes even more critical when you’re working autonomously.
Especially in the latter case, since you will not be strictly following office hours, and there will be no boss pointing out daily what issues to consider as priorities, and which are the ones to focus on today.
When working freelance, it will be your responsibility to be efficient and to send the deliverables on time (something crucial if you are to provide professional services and build an outstanding reputation).
1. Define work and rest time
One of your primary concerns should be the time slot you dedicate to work. Your working hours can be from 9am to 6pm, or they can be extended until midday, to retake work in the afternoon.
Such a scheme will provide an orderly pace not only regarding the projects you have to work on but in regard to lunching and resting, both of which are important to lead a healthy, well-balanced life.
Having these work slots set is useful even when you occasionally have to deal with something urgent (meaning, for example, working late into the night).
You will have no choice but to do the work, but always be conscious that you are working outside the hours you have established initially.
The next time, you will have to reconsider timeframes or even hold a conversation with the client about the “extra hours” the job demanded.
2. Assign time and space to keep the sales-wheel running
As a freelancer it is important to keep the wheels of work running, that is, to ensure that projects and requests keep coming in.
Therefore, a good habit is to devote some specific timeframe to sales. It can be during the first hour of every morning or on Tuesdays afternoons – pick which works best for you.
The important thing is to have a moment to be focused and entirely devoted to sales.
At this time, busy yourself on going through the projects offered at Workana, polishing your profile and reviewing past work delivered to clients, and finding out if there is anything else you could provide to them.
3. Make a check-list
Make a list of all the tasks you have to complete or work on during the day and refer to it from time to time so that you stay on top of things. Check this list by the end of the day to view all your achievements.
It is quite common that being lost in your work, days (or even weeks) pass without you realising just how fast the time has flown by.
A checklist however, will provide a better understanding of how you utilise your time.
4. Use calendar reminders
These are essential, not only to remind you about specific events but also in how you manage your time.
If you have a meeting on Thursday at 4 pm, one good idea is to set up a reminder not only one hour before it takes place, but also one or two days beforehand.
In this way, you will be reminded that no other activities should be fixed for this day.
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