When I decided to begin freelancing, one of the main draws was the fact that I could work whenever I wanted, wherever I wanted and on whatever I wanted. I actually thought I was getting my life back. Gone were the long hours sitting in an office, plowing through the endless piles of documents. Little did I know, that a year later, I would almost be back in the same position … just in a better location.

What I’ve discovered is that I am still working as long hours, and sometimes longer, and I still have a pile of work to get done. I knew at the beginning, I would have to work a lot to make a go of being freelance, but I’ve turned into a workaholic! On the plus side, it’s good to know/prove that I have the drive and determination to  be a success by myself. On the downside, I need to get out an live my life, not spend all my time tied to my laptop. Each day, I wish I had just a bit more time to get this done and that done. If I only had a few more hours …

The ironic part of all of this is that I used to be a corporate trainer, and one of sessions I used to run was time management. I’m actually really good at managing my time and staying organized, so what happened?!

Yesterday, I took some time to go back to my training materials get my life back in control. Here is my freelance time management plan:

Activity Log

For the next week, I am keeping an activity log of everything I do for each day. I’m going to keep track of everything I do and at what time. I know that each day is different, but what this will show me is when I’m my most effective and when I’m wasting time. Also, I will be able to see where I can begin to build in some work – life balance. The only way activity logs work is if you’re 100% honest. If you fib or fudge the details, there’s really no point.

Calendars and Scheduling

I’ve gone back to the old-school way of schedule. I’m a very visual person, so I work better if I can see exactly what is coming. I’ve been using various electronic calendars with all their alerts and alarms, but for long-term planning, I know use a whiteboard with a calendar on it. That way, I can see at a glance when I’m going to be busy and when it will be a bit (or a lot) quieter. Of course, I’m not always sat at home, so I do use Outlook too as a back up.

What I don’t do is plan each and every hour of the day. If I have to do something at a particular time, I drop it in, but overall, I just plan the big picture. That way, I also build in some buffer time, since we all know that nothing ever goes to plan exactly as we expect. Besides, why be freelance if you are back on a regimented 9 – 5, do this at this time schedule?

To-do Lists

I am a huge fan of to-do lists. I’ve been writing them for my whole life, for all parts of my life. I find it’s too easy to miss something if I don’t write it down. Lately, I’ve gotten away from that habit, so it’s time for that to change. When I write my to-do lists, I don’t just list what I need to do, I prioritize what I need to do. There are many reasons to prioritize your to-do list from project deadlines to more lucrative projects. This way, I can focus on what needs to get done each day, before moving to things that can be done, etc.

Like calendars and agendas, I prefer paper to-do lists. I keep my lists in a moleskine notebook that has my to-do lists from one side and then just random notes from the other. I love being able to cross of things on my list and watching it shrink as the day wears on. Believe me, it’s truly satisfying to draw a line through a task and know it’s been accomplished.

I’m not making any major changes to my life, just implementing a bit of organization. I do have one warning though … it’s easy for your time management tools to turn into procrastination tools. I had a colleague who would spend ages working on her to-do list, basically wasting time. If a time management tool is getting in the way of your doing work, it’s time to investigate a new one!

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