Freelance Life | Weekly Schedule
Some tips, tricks and time management strategies for the average freelancer! Also includes a free weekly schedule printable!
Dear Future Self -
One day you will be organised and tidy enough to have a beautiful minimalistic workspace like this one.
For now though, you will have to settle for piles of papers, messy drawers and not knowing where you last put your pen.
Last week Monday was an absolute shocker for me.
Warren and I had decided to have a Masterchef Marathon on Sunday night which involved one (several) bottles of wine and a whole stash fried rice concotion, a lot of laughing and an entire box of lindt balls. I woke up on Monday morning with no set game plan, no set goals for the week and no day action plan (also, mildly hungover).
The day started way before me and it felt like I just never really caught up.
I didn't stick to any of the things I had wanted to do, I didn't have a set list of things to achieve, I hadn't set any objectives for the day, I was completely distracted and kept checking Instagram every 35 seconds. It was a nightmare.
As a freelancer, time management and proper scheduling will either make or break you.
After this episode, (henceforth referred to as "THE MONDAY"), I made a solid plan to have better systems in place so that it has less chance of happening again.
First I decided to create a blank schedule for myself - right from the time of waking up to the time of Warren coming home - which is when I choose to "end" my work day. (I think another really difficult thing for freelancers who work from home, is the concept of 'switching off' - but that's a whole new blog post).
So anyway, after I had created my schedule I did a bit of research and came across the concept of an MIT (Most Important Task) and how vital it is to perform those tasks FIRST: before email, before other things, before anything. (You can read about MITs a bit more on Zenhabits). The concept of time blocking your most important task FIRST also features in The One Thing - by Gary Keller - a book which was recommended to me by Lulu - and which I highly recommend!). I don't know enough about the "eat that frog" theory - but I presume it's the same thing.
MITs can be broken down into two categories - the one category is for the most important task that needs to be completed by you in the day. The other category of MIT is something that must be completed by you in order to FURTHER YOUR OWN GOALS. So for example, a regular MIT for me may be "Finish the layout of Mark and Misha's Wedding Guestbook." An MIT related to MY OWN GOAL would be for example, "Spend 1 hour working on your book idea." Both are tasks which need to be completed, but serve slightly different purposes.
As you can see, I have labeled my MITs into my schedule - MIT being a regular MIT, MIT(g) being one that relates to my own personal goal and (MIT) being a bit of extra buffer time for any MITs that I have not been able to complete in the given time. I have also been completely realistic with myself - I am TOTALLY not a morning person - so whacking in my schedule that I will be starting work at 6:30am is completely unrealistic. I have worked this schedule to what works best for me. I have also added in a little morning "Routine" - which for the past week or so has consisted of 20 minutes of yoga, 15 minutes of meditation and 15 minutes of reading with hot lemon water. And... to be very honest - i have been REALLY getting into it!
Maybe I am a morning person after all?!
Each week I print out the schedule above and then fill in specifics relating to each time slot - which specific client work I will be dealing with, which emails I will be responding to and which tasks I will be completing. It helps keep me accountable to the hours in my day, and also helps give me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the work day.
If you'd like to download a blank copy of the Week Schedule - you can grab one here!
Also worth a read:
21 time management tips. (Love the concept of turning regular necessary tasks into habits)
Number one Productivity tip (Linked to higher will power in the mornings)
Do you have any tips, tricks, time management tips for me?!
How do you deal with creating a schedule that you are accountable for?
I'd love to hear! Leave a comment below or whack any links onto the indieBerries Facebook page!
