To continue with the theme of my Freelance Writing Guide For New Freelancers series I’m going to write about time management today. The Pareto Principle guidelines state that 20% of results are achieved with 80% of unfocused effort. This means that the remaining 80% of results will be generated with only 20% of the effort.
Obviously the more concentrated effort we put into our work, the more we will achieve.
The trouble with this conversion is that most of us grapple with the pitfalls of time management. It isn’t easy to juggle family, job, business, friends and fun and most people are way out of balance.
While some of us put more energy in trying to get hold of time, others are simply letting their day unfold as it happens. Depending on what we are trying to achieve on any given day this could be disastrous.
Business owners need to get hold of their time if they want to achieve greatness. No business will ever be successful unless there is some kind of order and structure built into the day. We can’t just amble about for the sake of doing so. When we run a business, any business, we need to plan and then execute those plans to move ahead.
If you, like so many others struggle with your own time management, you might find some helpful information within this post.
Beat procrastination
Perhaps the biggest hurdle in your quest to manage your time is to overcome the steely hold of procrastination. Procrastination is like putting shackles onto your feet and dragging them along the floor all day long.
When we fear action, we simply freeze up and nothing happens at all. One of the reasons this happens is because we either try to do too much, or else we are afraid of what we want to do.
Being afraid is human, we all are at some stages in life. The difference between those who get ahead and those who stay stationary is what they do about that fear.
How do you spend your time?
One of the best ways to beat procrastination is to determine how you spend your business day. In keeping a small activity log, you will gain valuable insights into where you are wasting time.
One thing you will have to be when you attempt this is 100% honest with yourself. It won’t work otherwise which I’m sure you agree.
Start small
When things don’t move as we want them to it is often the direct result of trying to attempt too much at the same time. I found this to be my biggest issue before I got my time management under control. I struggled for years trying to do this and that and never really got anywhere special.
Only when I started to focus on one step at the time did my time management problems disappear. Today I can honestly say that I rarely grapple with those issues again. It’s in keeping my focus crystal clear that has allowed me to move ahead in my business.
Trying to do too many things at once is a sure recipe for disaster.
Prioritize
What is your highest paying work? Do it first. Concentrate your efforts on the jobs that matter most to your freelance writing career and then deal with the rest. I’m constantly amazed at how many writers focus on little things, instead of prioritizing their work first.
If you have work, then deal with that first. The rest will fall into place with time and effort but without clients, you might as well go back or stay with your day job.
Effective scheduling
While Dave Navarro will kick your ass into high gear (if you let him), getting a grip on your schedule is one of the hardest things entrepreneurs deal with. It isn’t easy being resistant to distractions. Unless we stay super laser focused throughout the working day, we miss many opportunities and as a result our business will grow slower.
A personal consultation with Dave gave me many valuable insights into my destructive habits and while he suggested great tools to work with, in the end they weren’t for me.
I had to find my own rhythm, my own way of staying focused and thanks to my trusted Moleskine I finally am. I hacked it to suit my needs and it acts as a handy and useful diary to keep track of my tasks in terms of priorities.
Your time management tools
The best way to stay on top of your priorities is to use one of the many available time management tools. Whether you prefer to go electronic and geeky, or stick with your trusted notebook is irrelevant.
What matters more is that you are consistent in your approach and stick with what’s working for you. Regardless of whether you appear cool or not.
There are also a range of online applications like Remember The Milk that can do the job for you. Some writers find that they prefer a couple of management tools where others like me stick to the one and only.
Over the years of struggle I found easy is best. I used to battle with electronic organizers, zillions of online applications, a normal diary, a DMO, paper everywhere and whatever else struck my fancy at the time but have found that since I’m using my Moleskine I’m truly (and for the first time ever) totally in control of my time.
It feels great.
So, if you still struggle with the merits of time management, I suggest you give yourself a month in which you trial all the tools that strike your fancy right now and then decide on one and run with it.
Monika
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I actually had a recent post about times when it’s okay to procrastinate, so my opinion can probably be taken with a grain of salt. Still, I’m fully in agreement that people who are trying to accomplish something significant need to take control of their time. For me, that means getting up earlier to spend time writing in the peace and quiet of the morning, before the day’s worn me down.
The unexpected upside? I’m way more upbeat and energized by the time I head into work. It’s a win-win so far.
@ Sara: Hey, I loved you latest Haiku hack post just now. I’ve recently got interested in Haiku myself and that is why I posted a poem yesterday (although that wasn’t Haiku at all.
I agree with you that procrastinating can be beneficial at times, but certainly not in a business environment. It’s great to hear that taking action has worked for you as well.
I’m also with you on the benefits. It is amazing how much more balanced we feel when we are busy but accomplished opposed to just feeling busy all the time. It’s like day and night really and has had a huge positive impact on my own life too.
Monika
When I wrote my PhD thesis (Which took months!) I started a log of how much I wrote each day and got a sense of how productive I was.
I soon discovered that no matter how many ways I’d slice it, I was good for 5 hours a day of solid, focussed writing. Anything longer than that, my brain would turn to mush.
Of course, I had deadlines, but if pushed harder (8-10 hours), then I’d just write garbage or re-write the same paragraph over and over. And then I’d feel burnt out the next day, and accomplish even less. It defeated the whole purpose.
To this day, I still stick to the 5 hour rule. (The remainder of the work day is spent on brain-dead administrative jobs).
Or checking out other blogs.
@ Friar: you know, what you say makes perfect sense to me too. I notice the same problem at my end. Although I do have days were I write a lot more than 5 hours all up, it does get tiring and like you I spread my work out.
It’s no good trying to do too much as it will only be counter productive and than god you do take time to visit other blogs. Nice to see you.
I’ve been waiting for this topic! I have been (I am using past tense to try and convince myself I have moved on) a total time/task management system/tool junkie.
In the last year I have studied, tweaked and hacked GTD, ZTD, Contexts, Projects, RTM, Thinking Rock, Tada, GCal, Outlook, GInbox, paper, online, moleskine, really a lot of different things. I was seeking productivity nirvana - the one true answer.
What I have learnt, as Monika says, is that the most important thing is to be consistent and stick with what works for you. Geek out on all the tools you want for a month. Get it out of your system. Then keep only the ones you actually use everyday. Keep it simple.
Equally addictive is tweaking information management systems - how you are recording ideas and notes, tracking projects, organising docs.
@ Rebecca: wow, I can feel a massive post coming on at your place about the usabilities of all these geeky and not so geeky tools.
Like you, I’ve tried a fair few applications over time and am glad you agree in terms of concentrating to the things that work and keeping it simply. It kind of validates the whole lot coming from another (ex) time management junkie.
As for the information management systems, for me it is Moleskine all over again. You wouldn’t believe how much paper clutter I have saved so far.
Time management is certainly very important. Initially I didn’t realize this but after taking up freelance writing positions with some good blogs, I know understand its importance.
As you mentioned- Beat Procrastination. I think thats the key and when you work at home and you are your own boss, you tend to lose discipline and tend to slack.
Hence to battle this, I have started following a plan where I write a lot in the first 2 days of the week, so that later I have enough time for other commitments, like engaging in social media etc. So basically I try to finish up all the client work in the initial days of the week.
@ Abhijeet: Your plan sounds like something that works too. As for the nature of my business I couldn’t do that myself, but I do see how it can save you a whole lot of time during the second half of the week.
Plus, what better feeling than having accomplished your client work for the week way before it ends.
Time to play.
@Monika
I love my notebook (a quad ruled moleskine pretender) which goes with me everywhere and is great for capturing ideas the moment they are conceived (a good habit worthy of a whole separate post) and writing up notes or drafts (particularly when you need a break from the screen).
But I do, as soon as convenient, transfer notes from the book to GDocs. I have a separate ideas lists for the topic areas I mainly write in, and new stuff just gets added on the end.
It’s comforting to have a big list of ideas in waiting to full back on if needed!
@ Rebecca: it seems we do the same thing. I love my little untech gadget too and like you I write post ideas and even design new sites from scratch while the ideas flow.
Haven’t used GDocs for draft ideas or list but i do use them for storage of old client work. No need to clog up my computer. Like you already said, having a backup of ideas does help when the brain is stuck.
I have a daily schedule which works well for me, but I must say I like Abhijeet’s idea to “front load” the week. That seems to make a lot of sense, especially if you make good use of your weekends to rest up.
I also use this http://www.rescuetime.com/ as a nice way to see what I’m doing on the computer.
(It tells me that I’m on Twitter too much, sometimes…)
-Brett
@ Brett: yes I also like the idea, it just isn’t feasible with me being blog editor of several blogs. I have to write post, approve comments, reply and do all that is needed to keep the blog alive.
Therefore I couldn’t cram all my work into the first few days of the week. Oh well, can’t have everything and for me this actually works rather well.
I keep Saturdays and Sundays free for enjoyment to keep the balance.
I tried RescueTime and the application is great but i never spent enough time looking at the stats and have since un-installed it.
@Monika,
That’s right - it won’t work for everyone, unfortunately. It won’t work for me in my current job, for instance. If I telecommuted I could probably do it, however - but if the boss has “instant access” to you, he can always load on extra stuff and invite you to useless meetings
LOL about RescueTime - it told me what I already knew! I kept it on my machine until I switched to my Mac, and though they have a Mac version, I’ve not put it on yet. I might, but we’ll see.
-Brett
@ Brett: I get you about your boss, man, I do feel for you. I know how it is when others hold the reigns over our heads and we have to march to somebody else’s music.
You know, I’m so jealous about your Mac. Can’t wait to get my own.
@Monika,
Well, you know how it works - it just encourages me to work harder to get my own stuff going - and that little Mac is a key part of one of my plans. Once that takes off, maybe I’ll have enough money to buy Macs for all of my friends
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