28 June 2008
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Do You Schedule Your Day?
by Rebecca Laffar-Smith
Is Time-Management a key skill for freelance success?
I’ve struggled over the past few months to pull some semblance of order into my working day. It has left me wondering how other freelancers structure their time.
- Do you have a detailed schedule? A prioritized to-do list? A few key tasks?
- How do you keep these records? Message service? Notepad? Reminders? Timers?
- Do you work for a particular number of hours each day? Each week? Take weekends off? Work late into the night? Start early in the morning?
- Have you ever struggled to create a productive environment?
- Are there times of days when you’re more productive than others? More creative? More relaxed? More focused?
There are so many options for freelancers and everyone must find their own way of doing things. How did you find out what worked for you? Are you still seeking your ideal time management solution?
- I was talking with Michele L. Tune from Writing The Cyber Highway earlier tonight about how she structures her day. She told me that her drive and dedication to becoming a success, her passion for creating the kind of life she wants for herself and her need to help others accomplish their true lives pushes her through each day.She does not have a specific schedule and makes time to write wherever time happens to be. That can mean she’s writing into the wee hours of the morning, between loads of laundry, or while in a waiting room. She writes whenever she possibly can but that doesn’t mean she’s at her desk nine to five.
- Other writers have a strict schedule such as, Sharon Hurley-Hall of Get Paid To Write Online. Sharon’s Schedule is very structured. She has set time to allow for various tasks and makes sure she includes important family time and enough flexibility.
- Chris Bibey of Chris Blogging doesn’t have set hours of work scheduled but he feels that “When it comes down to it, you should work as many hours as it takes to get your work done.” If you’re low on commissions you can commit time to other career related projects that will encourage more opportunities.
I’ve not found my own freelancing routine. I’m still searching for what works for me. Trying new solutions and looking for the key that helps me keep writing, every single day.
Will you share your own schedule? How do you plan your day or set your hours? Do you have a specific structure or go with the flow? What works for you, and what have you heard works for others?
Thanks for the link, Rebecca. I’m always interested to hear how others schedule their time. In my first year of freelancing, when my daughter was at nursery just two days a week, I had a much more hectic schedule and worked longer hours. However, I soon concluded that working that way wasn’t giving me the lifestyle I needed, and I decided to inject more structure for the sake of family time and my own health. Even though I could probably earn more, I am satisfied with the balance.
Well, I may not be the best person to post on this since I’ve only been seriously writing again for the past three months. I’ve done my writing when I can fit it in, since I have the commute from hell – two hours commute each way to work six hours. However, I have the summer off and will be blogging at The Dangling Conversation about trying to get organized using Liz Davenport’s Order from Chaos. Should be an interesting experiment, if nothing else!
Aw, thanks so much or the link love and very sweet, kind words about me, Rebecca! I always enjoy our conversations. You’re truly a gifted writer and shine so brightly. Just look in the mirror, and you’ll see!
Keep writing, keeping shining, and I’ll see you on book shelves some day!
*smiles and hugs*
Michele
Rebecca,
I tend to work best at night. Usually I plan my “day” to start in the late afternoon and last most of the night. However, occasionally I have to change that to be available for client meetings or calls during the day. I prioritize my projects and do what I need to do each day to meet deadlines. Since I do some virtual assistant work in addition to writing and editing, I get projects late in the afternoon that the clients wants the next morning. I always keep several hours a day available for those rush projects in addition to working on larger, longer-term projects. My schedule is far less structured than Sharon’s, but it works for me with my workload and my health situation.
@Lillie Amman: You mention doing virtual assistant work, and I was curious as to what that meant and how you got that kind of work. I am a night person and hate that my “day job” runs from 7:30 am – 1:30 pm ten months a year.
Deb,
I just happened into this work because a friend/business associate referred me to a business owner who needed help getting organized. I’ve been working with her for about eight years now. She has a computer for me in her office that I access through remote desktop. I can access her e-mails, contacts, calendar, and files on a shared server and keep all these records organized. She never deletes e-mails-after she reads them, I either file them in the appropriate folders or delete them. She has an office staff, but since I’ve worked with her so long, I know her business far better than anyone in the office, and since I have experience owning my own business, I understand things that the staff don’t. She can give me a few details about a proposal for a prospective client, and I can use previous proposals to create a good first draft for her to edit.
Several other clients started as as editing clients but gradually started asking me to do more – create and maintain Web sites, act as their representative with distributors and companies they advertise with, order the printing after I’ve created documents. In fact, several of my clients have given me credit card numbers to place orders as needed. Obviously, it has taken a long time to build up that level of trust.
Virtual assistants (VAs) can do just about anything, but most VAs have specific skill sets they offer clients. Many work on a retainer – a flat fee for up to x number of hours work per month. My clients prefer an hourly rate because the amount of time they use me varies from month – from as little as 4 or 5 hours for some clients to as much as 100 hours for my major client.
There are several schools that teach and certify virtual assistants, though I have no experience with any of them. You can search for “virtual assistant” and find tons of information, from virtual assistants offering their services to schools and organizations. Virtual assistants can serve clients anywhere – that’s why they’re virtual, but all of my clients happen to be local. Just like writing and editing, many virtual assistants work in India and other other countries with much lower incomes so they price their work far below standard rates in the US.
This article on starting a virtual business might be helpful to you: http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/article71516.html
Probably the most important attributes for success as a virtual assistant are a good skill set (administrative, organizational, marketing, creative … whatever kinds of services you want to offer), self-discipline, organization, motivation, integrity, and perseverance.
Oops! The link in the above post doesn’t work because it’s picking up the period at the end of the sentence. Here is the correct link without the period:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/article71516.html
Rebecca, I am terrible at scheduling. I’m one of those people who never makes to-do lists or organizes anything, because I know for me it is a waste of time. I used to make lists but never follow them, and I once tried to schedule myself into a work routine, but I am a terrible failure at such things. I do better with a system more like Chris’ — I do what I have to do to get things done. I’m always on a hunt for better balance than what I have — which is pretty much organized chaos — but I am never going to be one of those folks who can say “I’m going to do Task A from 10-11am” etc. I think it all depends on one’s personality type….
Great post. I love your redesign. (I’m pretty sure I have said that before, but every time I stop back by I love it all over again.)
Have a great weekend!
I usually don’t have a schedule; however, most of my writing is done early in the morning or late at night.
At the moment, I work around my daughter’s schedule. She’ll be attending school this year so I know I’ll be able to accomplish so much while she is away. She still doesn’t understand the concept of working from home. I really don’t expect her too she is only five.?
With six kids ages 14 years to 8 weeks, I have to be scheduled yet very flexible to get my writing in. Conscious streamlining and prioritizing are key for me. In September, when school starts and the baby is on more of a consistent schedule, my life will be a bit more predictable.
When I retired from my fulltime time in September 2006, I thought writing fulltime would be a breeze. After all this is what I longed for – time to spend doing what I loved. Boy was I in for a surprise!
It took me about seven months to settle with a productive routine. Even now, some days I just can’t seem to pin down the time, harness my attention and write. Thankfully though, most days I get it right and I can go to bed knowing that I had a productive day.
I try to do my household chores before my husband leaves for work at 8.15 am. As soon as he is out the door, I shower, dress comfortably and sit at my desk with a cup of coffee.
I check emails and attend to those related to writing. Those i have to read, like newsletters and reports, I save for later.
Because I always have some work in progress, there is always something to work on. I work on assignments with the most urgent deadline first and an article or two for my weekly column for three hours and then take a break for a light lunch.
After lunch I might play with ideas for blog posts or read some of the emails I received earlier.
My husband, a teacher comes home just after 3.00 pm and that’s when we have our heaviest meal for the day. I stop working at 2.00 pm to prepare lunch. After we eat, I spend time in the living room or on the porch reading a book and writing in my journal. After that, usually around 6.00 pm I come in to look at television waiting for the news at 7.00 pm.
At 8.00 pm after the news I shower and spend another one and half to two hours reading and commenting on my favorite blogs and emailing friends.
I take my writing very seriously but still try to leave room one or two days each week to spend with my other interests: art, gardening and watching the Food Network and HGTV.