Productivity is very important if you are working as a freelancer. This article will tell you how to transform the way of work and, more importantly, how to increase your income.
It is not a secret that time-management is really important and plays a huge role in our everyday life. But unfortunately lots of people can’t distribute time in the right way. If you are one of those people then this article is definitely for you.
Time management strategies.
Time management strategies are important for people of all walks of life and having this skill will increase efficiency and the quality of work produced and at the same time, it will decrease stress levels. There is no time to get distracted and have your work derailed when you give yourself clear guidelines as to how your time is spent. The most important parts of time management strategies are to prioritize, schedule, focus, having goals and self-motivation.
Let’s start by sharing a story about a writer. Let’s call her Jennifer. She worked a lot and had many different requests from “could you please write my essay” to “I need an article tomorrow”. Jennifer was concerned about pricing for a service she provided. She wanted to know what to charge. The first question is how long did it take her to provide that particular service. Without hesitation, she said it took her a “few” hours and she charged $100. Now if a “few” hours meant three hours, that would be a nice profit. But she definitely spends more time than she realizes. Let’s dig a little deeper and she admitted that it probably took her at least 10 hours to complete the project.
So we went from what Jennifer thought was $33 per hour to only $10 per hour. This situation uncovers one of the biggest mistakes freelancers make. Not tracking their time. In fact, that may be the biggest mistake freelancers make.
Tools for time management.
Tracking and managing my time havу huge impact on income. Here’s how I do it. There are a number of different productivity tools and time tracking tools. Anything that has a start and stops button will work, including an old-fashioned stopwatch. The key is to consistently track your time as you are working.
Smartphones are a great option because they are what you need in everyday life. All of your needed information is available in the palm of your hand. Everything you use your smartphone for can be backed up in case of phone damage. The applications available for your smartphone are endless. The organizational and time management apps are the best Time Management Tools you could ask for. Many people have a long commute to work and need to be able to use that time wisely. This can be a lot of wasted time that can be used to aid in your success. While you cannot write or work on your phone while in traffic, there are other options available. You could use this time to learn a new language, for example. If there are books that you need to read, you could always find them on tape. You could also get a voice recorder to record your ideas, thoughts and strategies for upcoming tasks. Using these as tools for effective time management will increase your productivity and make use of time that used to be wasted.
No “guesstimates.” Accuracy is critical to your success. Word of warning – THIS IS HARD. It will take time to form this habit. You will want to give up. You will convince yourself tracking time is taking time away from actually working.
The most common excuse is “I’m going to spend 30 minutes a day tracking my time and that is 30 minutes wasted.” First of all, tracking your time will only add 15 minutes, at most, to your workload. More importantly it will show you the 30% – 50% of your time that is unproductive. Yes, that is not a typo. Right now you are spending 30% – 50% of your time on unproductive or low income producing tasks. Tracking your time will help you find those time wasters and replace them with productive tasks.
Let me put this another way: If you use this one productivity tool and track your time meticulously for one month, you will instantly see a clear plan of how to work less without losing any income. Imagine keeping your income and working from 9 to 3 instead of 9 to 5. Or taking Fridays off completely! That translates to 52 additional vacation days a year!
Organizing time is the same as managing time. It is important for your success to have all of your ducks in a row. This means that you need to have everything prepared to start your journey on a successful path. The time management tools that are available have proven to help people in getting their work done. Being motivated to use these tools to complete your goals will be the hardest part. Once you take that first step, you will wonder why you hadn’t done it before.
