When the Covid-19 broke out all over the world, freelance jobs became more prominent than ever before. More and more employees want to look for new opportunities that allow them to remote work. Because of its outstanding advantages, becoming freelancer is one of the top priorities of almost all employees working in different industries and fields. However, the fact shows that few freelancers don’t know how to manage their time effectively. They can't take advantage of the full benefits of remote work as well as get more from this. In this blog, we will discuss 8 time management tips that may help you be successful in your career as a freelancer.

1. What is Time Management?

Time is always one of the most important resources for all individuals and organizations. The definition of time management is mentioned frequently not only in the working environment but also in your personal life. If you know how to manage your time productively, you have an important key to help you achieve more and more accomplishments.

According to Wikipedia, time management refers to the process of planning and exercising conscious control of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. The main benefits of time management are to relieve stress, less distraction, increase energy, get a better work-life balance, and make you more productive and satisfied. To help you take advantage of the full benefits of time management, here are eight tips for you, especially freelancers.

2. 8 time management tips for freelancers

2.1 Plan every day according

No matter if you are a student, a full-time worker, a remote worker, or a freelancer, you always need to plan a detailed schedule every day. Although a freelancing job allows you to flex your schedule, you need to know what you will do at the next working hour.

Before starting your working day, you should spend time writing out your to-do list on this day. As detailed as possible, you will get the overall picture of your task and the timeline you must complete. However, a to-do list is not enough. You must commit to sticking to doing these tasks to make sure that your working day becomes more productive and meaningful.

2.2 Prioritize wisely

Besides listing out your to-do tasks, you need to know what tasks are the top priorities that require you to complete as soon as possible. So after making a list of all the tasks you have to perform, let's define the level of importance and urgency for each of them. Here are four main levels. You can check them and determine which task matches your level.

• Level 1: Important and urgent: Do these tasks right away.
• Level 2: Important but not urgent: Decide when to do these tasks.
• Level 3: Urgent but not important: Delegate these tasks if possible.
• Level 4: Not urgent and not important: Set these aside to do later.

You can use the Eisenhower matrix which will help you prioritize your duties. Add the tasks to the appropriate quadrant of the matrix. The image of the Eisenhower matrix is below:

Image source: https://www.freelancermap.com/blog/how-to-effectively-manage-your-time-as-a-freelancer/#plan

The task in each quadrant is similar to the four levels we mentioned above. Quadrant I contains tasks of level 1 that require you to be done as soon as possible. Quadrant II includes tasks of level 2, less urgent so you can plan and think about them without pressure. The Quadrant III with tasks of level 3 allows you to delegate if you can. And tasks in Quadrant IV, level 4, you can forget about them because it will waste your time.

2.3 Take enough breaks

A work-life balance is very important for everyone. Balance refers to arranging your work and your life scientifically and reasonably. One of the ways to both get balance and manage your time effectively is to spend enough time resting.

While working at the office, the company’s policy and rules regulate the time for starting a working day, lunchtime, and the end of working hours. Opposite that, as a freelancer, you probably work alone from home and can’t enjoy lunch with your colleagues to relax. Freelance jobs have no built-in breaks, this requires you to remember to take them. Our brain needs breaks to work better. Break times not only help you rest, relax, fill, and recharge energy but also improve your focus and productivity. No matter how long you spend, these moments of stepping away from your task help you a lot.

You will get the most out of your break time by doing some helpful activities. You can take a nap, take a walk near your home, read a few pages of your favorite books, or listen to a song you want. Just simple but it will affect your health, and mind positively. Whatever you choose, make sure you take those breaks.

2.4 Track your time and analyze your activity

If you don’t know how your day takes place, from when you wake up to when you turn off the lamp and go to bed, you may become less productive. Many activities you do every day. Some of them are meant for you, the others are useless and waste your time. It’s essential to track your time and analyze all activities. If anything is not good, you promptly change, plan smarter to improve them, and become a better version of yourself.

Nowadays, many time-tracking tools help you quickly track your hours and understand your work trends. You can pick one of them to use and then get a deep understanding of what you are doing every day and how long you take for each activity. Apps also provide weekly and monthly reports to evaluate your efficiency. Know yourself clearly by taking advantage of advanced technology, you can easily control your time and life.

We have talked about the top app for tracking time when working at home, you easily can find out via our blog: 10 Best Time Tracking Apps to Try in 2021.

2.5 Get rid of distractions

Many outside factors will affect your concentration. Almost all people are distracted by social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, Skype, and even emails. The notifications always attract everyone to get their smartphone, iPad, or laptop to scroll and view images, and information on every social network. All of these technologies are distractions that need to be eliminated.

You can avoid distractions in different ways. Turn off all chats and notifications from social media networks and even your email if possible, especially during your working hours. Install smart extensions like StayFocusd on your web browser to keep you away from all social media sites. On your phone, you can customize or limit specific hours that you can use each social media app. If you have reached the limit time, this app will be blocked until the next day. Similar to your inbox, you don’t need to check your email every moment of the day. You can check your email maybe three times a day - in the morning when you’re getting started, right after lunch, and towards the end of the day. You have enough time to answer emails that require a quick response to avoid unexpected risks.

2.6 Limit multitasking

Human brains aren’t truly capable of multi-tasking. You think that you can do several things at once, but in reality, your brain is just switching back and forth between topics. If you require yourself to multitask, this impacts your health and reduces your efficiency significantly. Moreover, doing both tasks will take longer than if you only handle one at a time.

Freelancers can do different projects at the same time to earn more money. Each project requires you to spend different amounts of time and resources to perform. So you need to plan out your working day for specific roles. At every particular moment, you can arrange and choose the best proper task depending on its requirements and importance. You have to avoid multitasking to make sure that everything you do will reach the highest quality and efficiency.

2.7 Make use of technology

In today’s advanced technology world, doing tasks becomes easier and more productive if you know the way to make use of technology wisely. When it comes to time management tools, many options offer customized functions to choose from. Each tool has different characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages.

You can discover and pick one of the tools to use based on your requirements and expectations. It helps the process of planning and using your working hours easier and effectively. Tools become virtual assistants, automatically manage your time, and ensure you take advantage of all resources as much. You can save a lot of time, effort, and money to do other important things.

2.8 Learn to say “No”

Last but not least, the fact shows that people seem to be afraid of feeling when saying “No”. However, turning down is always a great option to help you keep everything perfect. Beginning of your freelance career, you must make efforts to find clients and get more projects. Each project requires you to invest specific resources and time. Sometimes, taking on a new one can negatively impact the quality of the work you already have. So you have to decide whether to accept a new project or not. However, even if you don’t want to turn it down, you must have to say “no”.

Everyone, especially freelancers, needs to build their ability to determine their boundaries. Know how much work you can take on at once, whether you have enough time to complete this project at the highest quality or not. Don't be afraid to turn down a job you don't have time to do, because you’ll find yourself overloaded and regretting your decision. Remember that "If you find yourself turning down many projects, take it as a good sign that it may be time to increase your rates!"- Kelly Vaughn.

Conclusion

Effective time management is an important key for everyone to have outstanding success in their freelance career. Without responsibility and a built-in time management plan, you can't get a work-life balance. The ability of good time management allows you to be more productive and achieve better results. We hope the eight tips above help you manage your time better to get more things you want!