Effective Time Management For The New Freelancer

List of top 5 Things to Help with Time Management

When you freelance, you are given projects, a time for completion, and a budget. Most freelancers work from home, which is can in fact be a time management downfall if you are constantly interrupted by family members. Time management techniques that can help you include:

1. A to do list. This is a must have, there are free online program or software programs, but you must have a to do list that features a way for you to see when your projects are due.

2. Know your mood. If you are a freelance writer or artist, you will have some days where creativity flows from you and other days when you can't get a word on the paper or paint anything. Look at your to do list and tackle those things that you feel most in the mood for. For instance, if you have writing to do, tackle writing you enjoy the most first; this can open up the flood gates of creativity to get the less desirable tasks completed.

3. Prioritizing your day. This is key to being a successful freelancer; you must know which tasks need addressing each day and which ones can wait till tomorrow.

4. Be consistent. When you work on your daily freelance tasks and complete them and move on to the next, you begin seeing results, such as money to pay your bills flowing in. You can't work one day and then take the next six off, unless you have no bills.
5. Watch those time suckers. If a freelancer is not careful, their entire day can slip away without getting much work done. There are time suckers that freelancers face such as surfing the Internet, watching television, calling friends, family stopping by, etc.. Effective time management begins by setting daily time to work and inform family members and friends that you are not available during these hours.

Top 5 Time Management Things to Avoid

There are so many time wasters that a freelancer encounters on a daily basis that can literally mean the difference of having a productive day or a $0 day. Effective time management wasters to avoid:

1. Procrastination. Many freelancers begin a bad habit of procrastinating, it starts out innocently and before long it has turned into a terrible habit. Keep on a daily schedule, in the end, it pays off and you do not become so bogged down with work that you burn out.

2. House chores. These are big time wasters when you are working from home. It is easy to begin trying to catch up on laundry, but this is sucking up your daily time, do the laundry after your set work schedule.

3. Rationalizing. When you work from home, it is easy to begin rationalizing that since you're home, you might as well go grocery shopping to save time, again, this can wait till after "work".

4. Working non-stop. While this might sound like you would be getting more done, in actuality, if you are working with no breaks or no days off, you end up burning out.

5. Not having a set schedule. Having a work schedule is vital as a freelancer. Set aside five or six days a week and work specific times each day.

Signs and Symptoms of the Problem of Poor Organization

Let's face it, if you are not getting your work done, you are not getting paid, and if you are not getting paid, you have bills piling up. This can make you cranky, irritable, and left feeling overwhelmed.

Top 5 Steps to Better Time Management

Effective time management begins with steps to make more use of your time. These include:

1. Schedule your time. It is vital to schedule your time effectively. In other words, choose your work hours and stick to them.

2. Your do to list for each day should consist of no more than 5 or 6 items.

3. Time management techniques, includes eliminating all distractions, including telephones, television, and company, these all eat away at your allotted time to work.

4. Invest in a calendar or Personal Digital Assistant so you can quickly see what is due and what you need to do.

5. Have a list of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals but make sure they are attainable and stick to them.

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