4 Steps to Creating a Freelance Schedule
Freelancing is all about flexibility. It’s one of the main reasons I hear that people are thinking about making the switch to freelancing. But what a lot of people with no freelance experience don’t really seem to notice is that most of us have set schedules. Without them, it’s pretty much impossible to get all of our work done in a timely fashion. Of course, those schedules may not have any similarity to the standard 9-to-5 — but there is some reason behind the times we do work.
1. Work in Increments
Even for freelancers who charge on a per project rate, working in increments is important to tracking how long you’ve spent on a project and how you much money you’re making on it. Working in increments has other benefits, as well: if you know that you can’t stare at a computer screen for more than a certain amount of time, you can build a schedule around the time increment you’re comfortable working. I actually work in 30-minute blocks, because when I sit much longer than that, it starts getting uncomfortable. My schedule allows me to get up and move around every so often.
Getting used to the increment mind set can also make scheduling a project much simpler. I have a very clear idea of just how much I can do in 30 minutes, allowing me to avoid over-booking myself.
2. Recognize Your Best Working Hours
I have a freelance friend whose clients tend to think he’s based in Australia because of the hours when he tends to work. He’s actually based in the U.S. and just happens to start his work day around the time the sun goes down. He’s tried working a more standard schedule, but he just doesn’t do his best work during the day. Taking the time to recognize your best working hours can make a huge difference in both the quality and quantity of your work.
While you may have other factors controlling your schedule, like kids, finding a schedule that allows you to work during your most productive hours may be harder, but it’s still worth the effort.
3. Block Time for Clients
As a general rule, freelancers have to spend some time communicating with clients — whether you rely on phone calls, in-person meetings or another option, you’re generally not productive during those hours that you’re handling your clients. Your schedule can reflect that: your client meetings can be held during those parts of the day when you’re less likely to get a lot done on projects. Of course, those hours do have to fall during the hours your clients will actually be available as well.
My friend with the upside down work schedule makes himself available to his clients in the afternoon. Since my best working hours are morning and early afternoon, I’ve told all of my clients that I’m available for appointments only on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Those are still good working hours for me, but if I wait until a little later in the day, my clients may not be available.
4. Automate the Process
You didn’t become a freelancer to manage the administrative aspects of your business: you want to design, write or use your other talents. So use tools to make each part of your schedule automatic and let you get back to whatever you’d rather be doing. The sheer number of web applications for various scheduling tasks is incredible. It’s mostly an issue of finding one that provides the specific features you need. Considering, though, that there even applications, like BookFresh, that allow your clients to schedule appointments with you without you having to figure out your availability or other factors.
Having a system in place can make it much easier to change your schedule if something comes up — and tell your clients about the changes.
418,579
Whether you want to learn while you work out or to make that commute useful, Freelance Radio is the place to hear all the tips, tricks and news of freelancing.
Freelance Radio
With over 100 weekly comic strips and counting, Freelance Freedom is an institution around here. Check out of all NC's brilliant work in the archives.
Freelance Freedom Archives
Great Article! Thank you for the clear, concise, coherent, simple AND potent article. It is staggering at how much technology is changing the very patterns from which we create our lives and in essence our reality.
As more of us move towards branding our selves and freelancing it is concision and clarity that stand out for me as ‘equity’.
Best Regards,
MS
#2 feels the most important to me, which is why super tight deadlines can hurt – they force you to work at times that aren’t the most efficient for you.
#4 is the one that seems to get a lot of freelancers, who take on tasks and responsibilities that, in my opinion, only take time away from their core work – just to save a little money, which usually in the long run saves nothing or even costs them.
Great article! I especially enjoyed the part about the optimal work hours. Many people don’t seem to understand that type of flexibility, especially 9-5 folks. Maybe they just envy us
Good post, #2 is a hard one to deal with, as the freelancer you definitely want to work the hours you feel is best for you, that’s part of the idea of freelancing to work when you want. But, in actuality it’s tough to work when you want, most clients work the standard 9-5 so they need things sooner or at certain times and expect that from you as well.
I have found #2 to be the most difficult part of this in the past, as well, though more and more I find that if I establish an unusual routine with a client from the beginning of the project, they don’t have a problem if I’m sometimes unavailable when they call (though I do make sure to always get back to them within a certain amount of time, so that probably helps).
Like so many things, it’s all about communication!
One of the best pieces of advice that I’ve heard (can’t remember where) that I have found the most useful, is to try to schedule all of your meetings on the same day.
Meetings can each such a big chunk out of your day, that I find its hard to get anything done just before, or just after them. If you can work out a day where you can get all of your meetings done in one shot, it really frees up the rest of your week for more productive work.
Nice Post and great addition for my daily process.
If I may, I would like to add to your post:
Add a resting period for yourself. Stress destroys your productivity.
#2 and #3 was definitely an event playing yesterday.
I I’ll look into the BookFresh link, it just maybe the app that I need to stay organized.
On #4: One of my clients asked me for my meeting availability every week, which was a hassle to type and send. I ended up sincing my Outlook calendar to a Google calendar and posting the link on my website. The calendar is public, but only shows time as busy or free.
I can block out working time, and clients can figure out potential meeting times without waiting for me to check my e-mail.
Great points. I’m new to the freelance game and I don’t think I have the clout yet to tell clients that I can only meet on certain days but I’m working on it! I think #4 is huge. I’ve found out pretty quickly that there’s a lot of little things that add up to big time. I’m not quite fully automated but I’ve templated as much of my stuff as I can… the biz dev email, the new site structure, Using project management software, proposals etc. I try to keep a “new project files” folder that contains all of the digital docs I’ll need for any given project.
Good article, I do try to put all my meetings on the same day, and use that day for meetings, communication, and taking care of the business things I need to do (invoicing, paperwork, etc.)
I love the flexibility my business affords me but found that, for nearly two years, I was working seven days a week. I’ve been forcing myself into enough of a schedule lately to ensure I can take weekends off and I have found a big improvement in my overall energy (and social life!).
I’m now working on automating and blocking time for the important things that get swept to the side when I’m busy, like bookkeeping, follow ups with past clients, and blogging.
When I first started freelancing I didn’t set a schedule. Now I can’t live / work without it. I schedule proposals, blog posts, blog comments, forum chat, and social media stuff for the first three to four hours of the morning and spend afternoons working on client projects (which are carefully scheduled into my calendar). The hardest thing to schedule are telephone consultations with first time/potential clients. I make every attempt to promote scheduled telephone meetings with prospects, but they seem to prefer to just pick up the phone and contact me when it’s convenient for them. Unexpected calls really cut into my scheduled work time – but right now I feel I have no choice but to take every potential client phone call that comes in.
very interesting one! I reported the link on twitter too…
I have the same problem with time: I can’t work continuously for more than 1 hour in front of the monitor, or my back and my eyes gets very uncomfortable.
Anyway I should have to indagate more on wich is the more productive moment for me in my workday…
Number 2 has been huge for me. I’m at my best in the morning, but as a mom with 3 kids, I don’t get peace & quite until after bedtime. By then, I’m like a wilted flower and can’t get any creative work done – not ideal for a copywriter.
So I’m moving my schedule around. I’ll do creative work in the daytime and less demanding stuff after bedtime, such as going thru my home study courses, recording audio and doing yoga.
Oh and working in increments has been very effective for me. I can finish my client work in 3 blocks of 50 minutes each (most days anyway). I use a kitchen timer to keep me focused and let the kids know how much longer before Mommy can play outside with them.
Great info.
#2 is great advice, It’s all about finding your ‘normal’ and breaking the paradigm that a workday is from 9am to 5pm – that’s what choosing to be a freelancer is about.
#1 the end product is always better when I have time to mull over the creative choices I’ve made. Ultimately the client gets a better product.
As a mom that homeschools, I find I’m more productive after hours. Even though I’m based in South Africa (GMT+2), I find my work schedule fits more into the US Pacific time zone (it’s also because most of my clients are in that time zone).
Thanks for no. 4, I do need to automate more task. And as a freelancer one more tip is just START working even if you don’t feel like it. A few months ago, I usually did other stuff first when I didn’t feel like writing, but nowadays, I just start working and in half an hour or so, I am warmed-up enough to do my best work.
Wow… I believe you are a great freelance writer, my working hours is so bad.. I haven’t manage time for freelance. So I do whenever I want to do it.
I am currently working 60 hours a week freelance, this is a timely article. Of course I knew all of these things, I’ve read a dozen books on organizations and getting things done, but breaking it down into a few basic tasks helps. Like everything, keep it simple.
I’d like to add (and I have not read all the comments) to be flexible.
React to the workload.
If I get a job and it’s not due for two weeks, I don’t wait a week to do it.
I do it as soon as I have time for it. With my experience, working on something for say 3 days and getting it done doesn’t mean it’s going to be any better if I take longer to do it. It’s the quality of the work I do consistently – rather than the length of time it takes to do it. I’ve learned that. And it frees up my schedule for whatever comes along next in the lineup.
Im here only for some minutes and i start to love this place. So good topic`s to read and get a lot of information how to be a boss for my self and make me and my clients happy.
Thank you for posting this.!!
Very good article. Thanks.