Being a freelancer means choosing to do what you want, when you want. However, not all freelancers are so cheerful when they start their new career.
Suddenly all management and administrative issues fall on their shoulders: you need to deal with tax regulations, look for clients, advertise, etc. Therefore, without time management it is critically difficult to be a freelancer, and in the long run - practically impossible.
Why is time management important for freelancers?
1. Complex work schedule
What would seem to be so difficult about organizing your working time? However, even those who had no problem coping with it when working in an office suddenly realize that now there are too many tasks. If a freelancer doesn't have a personal schedule, it's easy to overestimate their capabilities. Without a strict schedule, it's also impossible to tell what time you'll fall asleep that night and what time you'll start/finish work tomorrow. It's exhausting both mentally and physically.
Without a strict schedule, it's also impossible to tell what time you'll fall asleep that night and what time you'll start/finish work tomorrow. It's exhausting both mentally and physically, potentially leading to professional burnout.
2. A lot of distracting tasks
For example, you need to understand what tax regulations are and when to send your tax return. Tax compliance starts with learning about tax regulations, so in the middle of the day you decide to switch to this task. But suddenly you see an interesting post, comment on it and get into an hours-long argument. Or your friends, thinking that now you can be called for a walk on a Wednesday afternoon, suggested meeting at a cafe round the corner. Eventually, it's 11pm, the deadline is blown, and you rush home to finish the project or go to sleep. Distractions like the ones described above are part of freelance life.
3. Frequent mispricing of the job
It is important for a freelancer to understand how much he/she earns/wants to earn per hour. Let's assume we take a self-employed freelance psychologist whose one-hour consultation costs $100. How much do you think he makes per hour? The answer is less than $100. Why? Because three hours a week this psychologist spends on creating and placing adverts, 10 hours a week - on additional training, 5 hours a week - on correspondence with clients, etc. And this is all his work, not his personal life.
In the end, an hour of his work may cost half as much as a consultation.
To determine the cost of his work, a freelancer needs to consider all the time spent on the activity. However, if there is no schedule, it is impossible to estimate the real cost of an hour of his working time.
4. Difficulty in predicting lead times
Most freelancers have the ability to estimate their own deadlines. Few take into account force majeure or distractions like correspondence with other clients and invoicing. The result is increased stress and the threat of missed deadlines.
5. Unstable workload
It is quite common for an aspiring freelancer to be busy for weeks at a time and at other times - waiting for orders, but they don't come. As a result, many freelancers make it a rule to never turn down projects, and as a result, they increase their own stress levels due to overwork and deadlines.
What are some time management tools for freelancers?
1. Creating a to-do list
It is important to include in it not only the things that need to be done shortly but also those that will require attention shortly. For example, the tax regulation of the self-employed requires them to pay tax once a quarter and once a year to file a declaration. These things can be immediately added to the to-do list.
2. Prioritised task planning
It is important to prioritize tasks rather than simply assigning them to each day of the week. This will ensure that you are not distracted by tasks of low importance and, as a result, will be more productive.
3. Using reminders
Sometimes even important tasks are not completed because they were simply forgotten about. That's why using a reminder system is an important time management tool for freelancers.
How to plan your time as a freelancer?
To use their time effectively, a freelancer needs to make a schedule.
Mastering time management is a crucial skill for freelancers efforts for efficiency and success. To dive deeper into practical steps for optimizing your workday, don't miss our article Top Tips for Freelancers to Optimize Their Daily Routine.
The schedule will help the freelancer:
1. Maintain a balance between personal life and work;
2. Save the energy that would have gone into planning each of your days;
3. Increase the predictability and regularity of your life, which is necessary to reduce stress levels.
How do you make a freelancer's schedule?
We told you in detail about how exactly to develop a schedule and how to properly plan your day earlier. However, it is also crucial for a freelancer to determine the optimal working hours for him or herself in order to create a schedule.
Working in a freelance format for many means staying in a home office. If you don't live alone, you'll need to adjust to other people's schedules as well. It is much harder to start work when family members are going out than when they have already left, and the house is quiet.
It is also important to consider the periods when you are most active. Some people are more comfortable working after 9 p.m. until late at night, while others are more comfortable getting up before sunrise. Taking your personal biorhythms into account will allow you to accomplish more tasks in less time.
Plan for necessary breaks throughout the day. Try to build into your schedule adequate breaks for eating and resting.
Get Voiset
Using Voiset will allow freelancers to create their schedules with minimal effort and utilize time management tools for their activities.
How can I use Voiset for time management?
1. Dictate or record in Voiset all the components of your life - both personal and work life
- When we sit down to make a list of all the important things to do, we are bound to forget something. We may forget to put our tax day on the list, or we may forget to schedule a massage. With Voiset, you can use voice input to create notes whenever the task comes to mind, whether you're walking the dog or driving.
- Don't forget that work tasks include not only the immediate execution of projects but also communicating with clients, finding new ones, updating social media content, etc. You should also have these tasks on your schedule. These tasks should also be on your schedule.
- It's also important to consider administrative tasks as well. You can set aside a specific day of the week to deal with all the bills that come in, make necessary purchases, and do your taxes. Or you can dedicate a small section of each workday to administrative tasks.
2. Prioritize each of the tasks
- When you have identified all the tasks that shape your life, then pay attention to the importance of each one. Which of the tasks are prioritized for completion, which ones are of medium priority, and which ones are not so important? Prioritize each of the tasks in Voiset.
- If a work task takes a long time to complete, break it down into subtasks.
3. Allow AI to shape your schedule
- A freelancer's personal schedule may well have a priority task, like going to the dentist, carried over from week to week. We strive for the pleasant, run from the unpleasant. This is natural for humans, but not for AI.
- The AI at Voiset will organize your schedule so that you are as productive as possible every day. It won't overload you with tasks but will make sure you don't burn out. It will also help you maintain the work-life balance that freelancers often forget about.
4. Allow reminders to be sent to you
With this option in Voiset, you won't forget about any important task! And it's also easier to avoid distractions: it's much easier to say no to a spontaneous meeting with friends when you know you have to get back to work on a project in 30 minutes.
5. Keep track of your working hours
Periodically conduct "personal analytics" and determine how many hours per week or month you devoted to work and how many to your personal life. How exactly do you allocate your time, and most importantly, how can you maximize your efficiency? You can get the data you need for analytics by using Voiset.
To become productive, it's important for freelancers to learn how to organize their time instead of going with the flow. This used to be difficult and accessible only to people with excellent organizational skills, but with Voiset everything has changed! Just write down a list of tasks, prioritize them and Voiset will do the rest for you! It will become your personal assistant, so you can manage your time efficiently and with minimal effort!
