When you’re a thriving freelancer, you often find yourself with more work than you quite know how to handle. It’s a fabulous problem to have, but one that needs a solution fast.
Work overload is easier to handle when you know how to balance your must-dos with your want-to-dos. But this skill isn’t naturally intuitive for everyone. Sometimes, it helps to have some guidance on how to deal with the hurdle.
To turn “too much work” into a positive thing instead of an obstacle, use these tips. You’ll find a balanced shift in your day shakes everything up, then into place.
1. Follow a Routine
What does a day in the life of your freelance gig look like?
If you can’t rattle off your time blocks immediately, you don’t have a routine.
Sure, there will be parts of the day that are in flux, especially if you have a flexible job, like photography or construction. But in general, you should have something consistent.
Following a routine ensures you maximize the time you have to get the work done when you’re not face-to-face with a client. A routine could be as simple as:
- 5 a.m. – 6 a.m.: Wake up, coffee, exercise, motivational podcast
- 6 a.m. – 7 a.m.: Shower, get dressed, get kids ready
- 7 a.m. – 8 a.m.: Get the kids to school
- 8 a.m. – 9 a.m.: Review daily goals, tackle paperwork, check emails
- 9 a.m. -12 p.m.: Work on today’s goals/client meetings/calls
- 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.: Lunch
- 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.: Work on today’s goals/client meetings/calls
- 5 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Review progress and set goals for tomorrow
- 5:30 p.m. – bedtime: Personal/family time
The importance of this routine ensures you’re covering all the essentials in your day. You can adjust it however you need to, but when you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing, you end up floundering and wasting time.
Structure also helps your loved ones know when you’re available and when they shouldn’t disturb you. If you always have free time from 12-1 and after 5:30, they’re more likely to wait until then to try to call or text.
2. Start and End Your Day With Goals
How do you know if you’re moving forward with your goals? Yes, your current workload is important, but we’re talking about future goals, too.
Putting focused time each day toward strategic planning helps you ensure you’re targeting all your goals. It only takes a few laser-focused minutes every day to make significant progress.
Daily Morning Mapping
First, start your morning mapping out how you want your day to go. Use a productivity hack like the Eisenhower Matrix to decide which jobs are urgent, which are important, and which ones can be worked on if you have some unexpected free time.
Include at least one task that involves something that helps you with your future. It could be as simple as, “Schedule a wellness checkup and dental cleaning.”
If your health hasn’t been a priority since you lost your insurance when you moved to freelancing, head to Gigly. These, you can sign up for discounted healthcare. As a gig worker, your health should come first. If you get sick, your carefully balanced workload crashes.
End of Day Review
At the end of the day, review your morning goals and evaluate how much progress you made. Highlight anything you missed that must be done the next day, and sketch out how you’d like tomorrow to go. This will streamline your morning map session.
As you get used to these twice-a-day planning periods, the skills you use during that time will become ingrained habits.
3. Block Out Distractions
Did you know that when you get distracted, even for a minute, it can take 23 minutes or longer to get your brain refocused?
How many times do you find yourself interrupted or randomly on your phone when you should be working? That could easily add up to a lot of missed productivity.
Could it be that your workload isn’t too heavy but that you’re wasting a lot of time with distractions?
Setting that routine can help knock out a lot of unnecessary interruptions from your friends and family. The rest is up to you.
If the phone is your problem, consider setting it to Do Not Disturb during your intense work blocks and keeping it in another room.
And if you’re mindlessly clicking on social media or your favorite shopping sites instead of working, use an app blocker like Forest. Plug in those “prohibited” sites and turn on the app before you start working. If you try to sneak over to them, the app will remind you to get back on track.
Conclusion
Balancing your workload when you’re freelancing requires determination and structure. When you can set your own schedule, it’s easy to talk yourself into getting off-task.
With routine, goal-setting, and focused distraction blockers, you’ll have a balanced workload. These habits will help you thrive in every part of your life.
