How can a freelancer solve the issue of a reasonable balance of life and work?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

As the attentive readers of Lifehacker may remember, I worked on the editorial board of a large Ukrainian project dedicated to Internet business, and 80% of my work tasks were associated with one team. In the summer of 2012, due to health problems, I left the project, leaving since November only freelancing as a tool for earning money. And then I realized that the problem of procrastination during working hours and the shift in deadlines is really one of the main "evils" in my work. It took me about a month to build an optimal scheme for overcoming problems with "wasted time." I would like to share with you the ways I have found to deal with the "creative crisis" and overwork.

1. Start with paper planning … I really wanted to master the techniques of paperless planning, take all notes in applications and programs, … but nothing came of it. If you have been using a unified system for a long time, "sharpened" for teamwork, and then start working for yourself, then the first impulse is to grab onto all the available tools and systems, not really deciding how many projects you have and what tasks are in them. will need to be tracked. In order not to get confused, take a blank A4 sheet, write on it all your existing customers / projects with which you work. Then write down for each project the range of tasks for the month and the expected time / income for each task / project. As soon as you have a clear structure of relationships in front of your eyes, it will be possible to "transfer" this structure to the format of electronic systems, "reminders" and online planning tools (although I personally bought a paper diary for 2013 anyway, because the primary plans and daily tasks are easier for me to write down on paper).
2. Break your entire work day into 25-30 minute chunks … I will not tell you again about “tomato” planning (“Lifehacker” has already written quite a lot about it). The technique of dividing the entire working day into 2 large and 3 small tasks, each of which is assigned at least 2 segments of half an hour with breaks, really works. Moreover, for the sake of interest, I just set a stopwatch and, in the process of working on tasks throughout the day, noted each time how much time had passed until the moment I felt a little fatigue and a spontaneous desire to look at mail or look on Twitter. Guess how long it took from the moment you started working on a task until you wanted to "switch"? Correct: 32 to 39 minutes. Draw your own conclusions.
3. Isolate yourself from messengers for the first 4 hours of work … The first week in this mode ends - and I am more than happy with the result. Tasks scheduled for the day are solved in the first 2 hours, followed by small subtasks and solving current issues. And no one distracts you with a “sudden idea” in the morning or an “urgent matter” (which in 80% of cases will be completely non-urgent).
4. Find 1 Best Time Spent Tracker Mobile App … To see where exactly you are wasting time and what costs can be reduced. I tried to use similar "desktop" timers and browser plugins, but the mobile time tracker turned out to be the most convenient: it can be used to add even everyday household tasks to the list of monitored tasks in order to notice where exactly you are wasting time. I will not recommend a specific tracker: there are a lot of them in mobile app stores, and each is for specific purposes. I am currently using.
5. Use CRM for contacts and deals … Previously, the post office coped with this, but now I see that searching among the mountain of letters is not enough for me. Within the framework of one of the projects that I am currently consulting, extensive work with a client base is expected. Keeping all letters in inbox, negotiations in your head, and transactions in notebooks and correspondence is not the best way to control the financial performance of both the project itself and your personal effectiveness in this project. Now I am testing the possibilities for solving the mentioned problems.
6. Set alarms, timers, reminders for more than just work tasks … Even during the period of editorial work, I had a problem of "immersion": this is when you are so passionate about completing a task or solving a problem that you do not get up from the chair for 3-4 hours, forgetting to eat, move, or at least 10 minutes to rest your eyes and back … Result? Physical inactivity and the associated extremely bad consequences for your back, eyes, hands, heart, pressure, stomach. By the way, I felt some of these sad consequences for myself last year. Now, in order to get out of this situation, I set timers with reminders like "do 10 squats", "go for a walk for 1 hour", "move at least 15 minutes." It sounds frivolous, but it helps not only to arrange small breaks between tasks (remember, the advice was above about 25-30 minutes?), But also to constantly change the types of activity, without plunging into work like an abyss.
7. Create a desk / wall calendar with fields for entries … Remember Bruce Almighty? When he wished to write down all the wishes of earthlings on stickers, his whole house and himself were pasted over with stickers. Usually you need to make 1-2 important notes for every day, for this you grab some piece of paper / sticker / open the service of notes / applications for notes / calendar … then all this is mixed into a heap, something is lost, somewhere you forgot to put reminder. A calendar hanging above your desk / on the wall of your office or room (as in my case) is a great solution to write down important tasks exactly on the day they should be completed. Even if they arose spontaneously in correspondence or during a telephone conversation.
8. Give up multitasking … Multitasking is the most deadly and harmful myth, which personally cost me a lot of energy and led to incessant stress, I even began to sleep worse, because all the time I was hampered by thoughts about how to solve “this problem for the site” or how best to write "this is the text." Do tasks sequentially, do not keep 4 windows open at once with texts and tasks that you are working on at the same time. Do less, but better and more efficiently. Earlier, in addition to my main job, I took on many other side projects, tried to get more done in the shortest possible time, "dispersed" the duration of my working day to 10 hours (since 2009 I have been working remotely, which allowed me to take on many projects at once and at the same time work effectively and for the benefit of myself - as it seemed to me). Now I perform tasks sequentially, my working day does not exceed 5 hours, and I have reduced the number of projects in favor of free time allotted for rest (but more on that below).
9. Work with customers / companies on terms that are acceptable to you … "The boss is always right" + "The client is always right" - this formula was invented by cunning corporate "uncles and aunts" in order to squeeze the maximum out of their employees. Later, for some reason, representatives of small business learned the same formula - and now we are all ready to work "harder, higher, faster", agree to failed deadlines, unpaid salaries, low prices, lack of a fixed retainer and life as such. For six years I have been making a living as a freelance in one way or another, which taught me (at the cost of my own trial and error) a number of mandatory rules. Among them: try not to work with freelance exchanges; always listen to the recommendations of previous partners / clients and to the company's reputation in the market (word of mouth in 90% of cases does not lie). Always be clear about your financial expectations, working hours, pay plans, and how you organize your work relationship (especially if you work on many different projects). And do not “buy” on bonuses (applies not only to freelancers, but also to “contractors”): lack of sleep, physical inactivity and latent stress do not cost any money (the philosophy of “Live fast, die young” I somehow stopped liking by my own example).
10. Reward yourself for what you have done … Set yourself up for a working day by making it smaller than the corporate 8/5. During working hours, work, and do not pretend to be business. And in your free time from work, reward yourself for perseverance and concentration: take a walk, stay in silence or listen to your favorite music, read fiction and business books, engage in self-education, listen to interesting and informative podcasts, go in for sports, learn to cook (I have been going for a long time, but there was no time in principle before), indulge yourself with something good from the material or spiritual, which you have denied yourself for a long time. Finally, sleep: sleep is your body's reward for helping you work.

I myself am only at the beginning of the path to changes regarding my motivation and my health. I really hope that my little tips will be a useful reminder for you. And if you suddenly still doubt the need to change and reorganize your work (again, this applies not only to freelancers), then here it is.