Comments on: The Time vs. Task Dilemma: Why You Could Be Working Too Much

By: Quiet Rebel Writer » Blog Archive » Roundup: 7 Freelancing and Creativity Links

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:49:26 +0000

[…] The Time Vs. Task Dilemma: Why You Could Be Working Too Much: There’s nobody telling us to go home at the end of the day, there’s no point beyond which our work is unpaid simply because it’s late in the evening, no time when the office lights start to go out, no pre-paid hours. We complete a task, we get paid, and we can complete most tasks at any time of the day or night, on any day of the week. It’s no surprise that many freelancers are overworked. The lure of “one more project, one more invoice” can be hard to resist. […]

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:29:37 +0000

Again shamelessly promoting our free service called Paymo (www.paymo.biz). If you wanna know how much you time really costs just sign up. (caution: analyzing the reports generated by Paymo might cause a unexpected rise in your hourly rate)

By: Ben Harper

Ben Harper — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:37:00 +0000

I’m not sure if this is directly related or not, but one thing I’ve been trying to do is put the invoice between me and the project before I start to do any work.

By insisting that I get paid upfront, (or a large portion on larger projects), I find that it weeds out the serious work from the rest.

I am slowly trying to introduce this concept to my clients that they have to pay for my time before they get it.

By: Amy Lillard

Amy Lillard — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:31:03 +0000

Hey Skellie - some great food for thought here. I also appreciate Klaus’ comments on the need for long-range planning. That’s what I’m dealing with right now - trying to determine the optimal amount of time to work each week, but still have enough in the pipeline. It’s very tricky. One of the hardest things to plan in and plan for is marketing time - unpaid work that will ideally result in more paid work, but that still saps time reserves and drains the energy.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:33:16 +0000

Seems to be a popular topic the past couple of days. For me, balance is the key for everything in my life. Too much of any one thing will eventually cause me problems.

By: Jaden @ Screenwriting for Hollywood

Jaden @ Screenwriting for Hollywood — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:43:07 +0000

Helpful breakdown.

Being a perfectionist, I definitely run myself ragged from the minute I wake until I go to sleep, but I feel like I just have to pay my dues at this stage of my career. Anyway, I enjoy it!

Thanks.

By: The Daniel Richard

The Daniel Richard — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:43:50 +0000

I like the part where the author wrote this “we can’t avoid overworking unless we define what overwork means for us”.

By: Klaus Wiedemann

Klaus Wiedemann — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:58:25 +0000

While the article has some good ideas to consider (minimum rate, minimum weekly income etc.) it has a major shortcoming:

The article has an exterme ad-hoc point of view, it (more or less) just considers the current work at hand.

However, successful freelancing requires also at least some kind of strategic thinking, e.g.

- What kind of projects do I want to take on?
- To which level do I want to raise over the next year my hourly rate? What skills do I need for that?
- What is my projected workload one month from now? Two month from now?
- Do I need to put more time in marketing and client acquisition? Is my pipeline full enough?

As a successfull freelancer, there are a lot of areas to focus on, and only “current paid project” part can be managed the way described here.

It is essential to not forget the value buidling activities which guarantee your projects a year or even three year in advance…

Best regards,
Klaus

By: eamon.mack

eamon.mack — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 12:23:59 +0000

As a starting freelancer I just look at these figures in awe. It’s great to know that it’s possible to make this money. I’m putting lots of hours in at the moment, but I’m not really getting much return for it. I’m definitely bookmarking it for future reference though! Thanks.

By: Ben Griffiths

Ben Griffiths — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 10:04:41 +0000

As I am just starting out freelancing, this article is great. I’m pretty sure that even after reading this I’ll someday still fall into the trap, but at least now I might notice I have done so!