How to Structure Your Workday as a Freelancer – 6 Ways
Based on analysis by Edelman and Upwork research teams, 78% of freelancers say that freelancing enabled them to live their preferred lifestyle, and 76% of them feel happier than they were in their typical 9-5 job. Those findings are stated in a report from Forbes.com, and those statements are undoubtedly undeniable facts.
How to Structure Your Workday as a Freelancer – 6 Ways
Freelancing gives an individual more freedom to plan his or her own schedule, decide which place to work, and make decisions. But despite that, freelancers need to be particular of their daily time management for the sake of their productivity. So if you’re tracking to catch a freelance job soon, you should know the six ways to structure your workday once you become a freelancer. In this blog, we’re going to discuss all of them for you.
Begin Your Workday Based on Your Chronotype
Chronotype refers to our sleeping patterns or our body clock within a 24-hour time span. You need to base your workday with your chronotype. If you are a person who wakes up in early mornings, you should start your workday around 8 am to 9 am. You can even make it 6 am to 7 am if you’re the type who wakes up at dawn. The bottom line is that it’s best to begin your day’s work at the first stage of your chronotype. In that way, your body’s energy levels will be in sync with your working hours.
Beginning your workday accordingly with your chronotype is a privilege you should take advantage of as a freelancer. In your current traditional job, you can’t enjoy this privilege. You need to comply with the shift schedule set by your supervisor or manager. In freelancing, the schedule you need to comply with is the schedule you’ve set for yourself.
Set a Daily Quota
In a major business, marketing teams create elaborate strategies for the promotion of their products and services. They have to hit their sales quotas set by their executives in order for their company to gain revenue and profit. In freelancing, you also need revenue and profit to increase your income. There are many ways to achieve that, such as marketing yourself in freelance websites, adopting social media strategies to boost your online reputation, and asking for client referrals. But, the simplest way you can stabilize your income is by setting a daily quota.
Setting a daily quota inclines you to accomplish more work within your workday. The more work you can finish, the more money you can earn in a period. Having a daily target will improve the speed of your production without sacrificing the quality of your outputs. So, a day or a week before, you should create your quota checklist. Make sure that your daily quota can fit in well with your number of working hours. See to it that it’s achievable and feasible as well. A quota checklist can also help you in budgeting your time and honing your work ethic as a freelancer.
Start with Urgent Tasks
Deadlines are one of the significant challenges that every freelancer faces on a regular basis. Many of them are pressed against time just to meet the deadlines set by their trusted clients. If deadlines aren’t met, clients could get frustrated or feel unsatisfied. Of course, you don’t want that to happen when you officially start freelancing.
To make sure that you meet deadlines consistently, we strongly encourage you to start working on your urgent tasks every working day. Make them your top priority and do your best to finish them within your working hours. Also, it would be best to complete your urgent tasks halfway in your workday. If you have the money, you should consider using time management and project management tools to monitor the progress of your urgent projects.
Do Difficult Tasks at Your Best Hours
In your daily chronotype cycle, there’s a stage when you are at your peak. That peak refers to your energy being at its highest in your day. Usually, this could occur in the middle of your day, but it depends on your body’s rhythms. If you know the hours when you feel that your energy is at its peak, you should do your most difficult tasks during those hours. By doing so, you can solve problems well, your creative prowess will be maximized, and you might be able to finish your tasks quickly than usual.
Sometimes, becoming a productive freelancer is just a matter of knowing the patterns of your mind and body’s energy. We all experienced and noticed that we don’t feel drowsy at certain hours of the day. Some people don’t feel productive working during the mornings and some in the afternoons. You can even do your tasks at or after midnight if it suits you.
Give Yourself a Break
As a freelancer, you can be a workaholic, but don’t overwork yourself too much. Give yourself a break each day to unwind for a bit and take your lunch or snacks. In your schedule, have at least a 30-minute or one hour break every workday. Take your meal, play videogames a bit, listen to music, play with your pets, do yoga, workout lightly, read an email from your loved ones, or any activity that can refresh your mind and replenish your energy. After your break, you’ll feel much better, and you’ll have high morale to accomplish your freelancing duties.
Do Extra Work If There’s Spare Time
Do you want to sign more work contracts and proposals with your clients? Do you want to optimize the quotation of your service fees? If you do, then you should try to do extra work. Estimate whether you have the spare time to do so. If you’ve met your day’s quota well before your workday ends, use the time to start working on other projects that you’ve scheduled to do the following day. Make the most of every time you can get. You should see time as gold in freelancing. Every extra hour or minute counts to become a more productive freelancer.
Throughout your journey, you’ll reap the many benefits of freelancer jobs if you play your cards right. There are numerous tips for freelance workers that you can use as your foundation for freelancing success. Among those tips are the ones we’ve discussed with you here. So, take note of all of them and make them a habit.
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