Freelancers are people who are responsible for their own work in the purest sense of the word “responsible”. They choose when to produce it and how to produce it – customizing their work-flow as it suits them, not how it suits their boss. They are the entrepreneurs of the world, people who have chosen to take the rein of their work life.
With all this freedom comes great responsibilities though (yes, I bet you’re thinking of the Spiderman quote “with great power comes great responsibility”). Because you’re responsible for producing the work, and only you can empower yourself to work, then it could also turn the other way. You may not have developed the discipline required to follow through your schedule each day, as that is what you’ll be required to do to become successful as a freelancer.
A lot of the time, freelancers will delay, delay, and further delay work, and it’s becoming all too common on the industry of web design and development (you almost expect delays in the schedule) and we really need to come together as a community to stop this and provide a more quality service, that’s on time.
I’ve recently fallen into the old procrastination trap, and it’s a damn hard one to get out of sometimes. I find the easiest way to do so, is to write up a to-do list every morning if you don’t already, and focus solely on the tasks at hand. Your first priority every day is your work, get what needs to be done finished, and then think about the rest.
An important and core skill that all freelancers need to develop is prioritizing correctly. You may be able to write up a to-do list and follow through, but are you really completing the tasks that need to be done first? You need to list the tasks in order of most pending to least pending.
Are you personally falling behind on a lot of work as a freelancer? You know what to do.
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September 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 am
Some good insight. What I have found excellent (in addition to each day) is writing an overall weekly plan. First identify the major groups of tasks that you cannot ignore while still completing client work (like marketing, trend research, training/learning, etc) and give each of them a fair space during the week.
This way, each of the “other” important business areas get their fair attention, while you still have plenty of flexibility to plan all the needed space for the meaty client work, and get each daily priority list made and finished (we hope).
Thanks for the note!
Pam
http://www.ryvondesigns.com
September 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 am
I feel that an excellent way to get rid of procrastination is to have a work schedule. This is a good and persuasive argument Taiyab. Personally, I don’t know where I would be without proper scheduling.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:40 am
I’m still looking for a full-time job, taking three classes this semester, and doing part-time freelancing. I must say between getting good grades and making money,the main term that comes to mind is time management. You can do a little each day and make your life a breeze. Or you can do a ton a day and make it hell, managing your time is a vital component of your success.
I’d make the list at night though, after you’ve finished your work so that it’s ready for you when you wake up. ;)