We all have twenty-four hours in a day but some people manage to accomplish much more than others while some can barely finish one task in a day and this is due to the endless distractions that seem to strike us from every side. These distractions come from our mobile phones, social media, friends, and families especially if you work from home every day.
Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control of the time spent on some activities. So, as a freelancer and a creative, you need to learn how to manage your time effectively so you feel over-pressured to deliver a task because creativity doesn’t come at its best under pressure and time management skills help us manage our time wisely, and prevent us from wasting our time. If you can manage your time, you feel in control and you have increased rates of advancement in the freelancing world
I have been able to come up with some tips in no particular order that have worked for me and have helped me to manage my time effectively so you can experiment with any of them and see which works for you.
1. PRIORITIZE
Determine what’s important and focus on those tasks first. You can make a list like the economist scale of preference to differentiate the tasks that are important, valuable, and urgent and those that aren’t. To avoid dealing with numerous tasks that can overwhelm you and thereby end up frustrating you, prioritize your tasks so that you can focus on one task and avoid multitasking. This also helps to give your all and best in each task, it also prevents errors and wasted time.
2. TAKE BREAKS
Take breaks to help you recharge and also to avoid burnout because when you stay on a particular project for many hours, you tend to feel frustrated, have a mental breakdown, and become exhausted. In order to avoid all that from happening, take short breaks in between to help you feel renewed and refreshed, energy recharge, and most times when taking breaks, new ideas even begin to flow in.
However, while taking your break, ensure that you do not get distracted by watching a movie or navigating the ‘hot takes’ on social media. Your break activities should include: taking a short rest, reading a book, listening to music or you can just meditating.
3. BE ORGANISED
As a freelancer, you have to keep your workspace or workstation in an organised form. You are surrounded by your laptops, mobile and smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, jotters, pens, documents, etc., and if they are scattered around the space, the time you are supposed to start on a task will be spent on trying to arrange your workstation and by the time you are done organising, tiredness tends to seep in and at the end of the end, you can barely finish one task.
So, before you retire each day, ensure you keep your desk and workspace neat and organized.
4. STEER CLEAR OF DISTRACTIONS
Say no to any form of distractions because they prevent you from getting any work done. Distractions kill your creative spirit and they do not help you concentrate on the project in front of you. Distractions can be in the form of staying on social media like {checking the latest photo dropped by one of your favs. on Instagram or Facebook}, checking for any new message in your email, binging on Netflix or Amazon Prime, or spending hours on a trivial phone conversation. One way you can prevent this is by informing your friends and family about your work hours so they do not just call or message to exchange pleasantries or you can put away your phone till you go for a break.
5. DO NOT MAKE YOUR BEDROOM YOUR WORKSTATION
This tip might sound very funny to you but it is a very classic advice. You can not want to manage your time and get some work done if your workstation is in your bedroom or instead of working at a desk and a table, you set your laptop on your lap and sit on the bed. I used to do it before but not anymore because I could barely get any task completed. Do not set up your workspace in any place that screams relaxation or too much comfort because instead of getting to work, you end off drifting off to sleep and not to go overboard, you might end up sleeping the entire work hours.
6. PLAN
There is a popular saying that goes “He that fails to plan, plan to fail”.
How one plans their day and time makes all the difference in achieving your goals. Planning helps you plan ahead of each day and it is one of the best ways to manage your time as a freelancer or digital creative.
Planning involves having a clear understanding of each project and breaking it down into half or bits because time management is not effective without a good amount of planning your day and tasks. Planning also helps you stay focused and organised and it helps to prevent procrastination. You can write down a list of the tasks you hope and plan to achieve for the day or week or you can create a template on how you intend to spend your work hours and how many hours you delegate to one task.
7. DELEGATE TASKS
You do not have to overburden yourself with all the work when you can delegate some tasks to some of your team members or you can check some freelance marketplace like Fiverr, Upwork, People Per Hour, or Freelancer.com to hire someone for some naira or dollar to get the job done. This helps you save time that can be used for other important and urgent tasks that require your attention and focus. It also saves you from stress and it increases your work productivity.
WRAP
Remember time is precious and you can achieve your targets and goals if you manage your time effectively so use it wisely!
Do comment below to let the team know if you found this article informative and also how you were able to implement one or all the tips in your work.
