Planning time for freelancers

The rhythm of the life of an office employee is subject to a working schedule. He knows exactly where the work ends and personal life begins.. The freelancer does not have such a separation. It would seem that in this situation, a bias towards the personal life is dangerous: who will work when it is possible to rest. In fact, the opposite is true. Many freelancers are recycled, because their earnings depend on the amount of work done: more done, more received.

If a freelancer does not know how to efficiently allocate his time, one of the spheres of life will necessarily suffer, and most likely it will not work. More often freelancers are "hammered" either by relatives and friends, or by themselves, forgetting to eat normally and maintain order in the apartment. Time planning (time management) will help to avoid this.

The complexity of being a freelancer is that control your daily routine: there is no well-regulated lunchbreaks, late fees, etc. There are only deadlines, which you often remember at the last moment. Therefore, planning time in this case is especially important: there is no one who could allocate your time for you.

So, where to start planning your time? First, decide where you will bedo. Someone likes the classic diary, and someone prefers electronic organizers (telephone, computer programs, online services). Everything depends on personal preferences. Of course, electronic options are convenient and modern (which is at least a reminder), but if you are pleased to plan working hours in a notebook with cats, why not. The main thing is that time planning brings satisfaction, but does not turn into a tedious "obligatory".

Now you can proceed directly to the planning. First, divide your life into spheres: work, family, socializing with friends, familybusiness etc. is. The division of each will have its own, naturally, but still do not forget to bring in the sphere of "I". Very often we forget to give enough time to ourselves. Try to devote at least half an hour a day, your beloved.

Then for each sphere it is necessary to draw up a list of sample cases. Of course, you can not predict all the events and events, but very much can be planned in advance - for example, household chores. Then Distribute cases evenly from lists by day of the weekI am trying not to be "skewed" towardsone of the spheres. And do not forget to provide a weekend. It is often thought that a freelancer every day - as a day off, but in fact many have weekends - as workers.

The schedule should be sufficiently dense, but at the same time flexible enough: no one is immune from force majeure and change of plans. Even a banal migraine is able to dislodge. Some classes can be combined, thus saving time. If your work is creative (and manyfreelancers so it is), thinking ideas can be combined with homework or surfing the Internet. On the web, you can find things that push the most unexpected ideas. And some of the best ideas come, for example, during washing dishes, when the hands are busy, and the brain - no.

But no time planning will help, if there is no self-discipline. It is not enough to draw up a schedule, you still need to learn itadhere to. A common problem with freelancers is that they are drawn into the workflow for a long time, and then they can not stop. Sometimes in the work of non-stop blame customers with urgent orders, but often the order is not so urgent, and the freelancer himself, or rather his disorganization, is to blame.

Therefore, by drawing up a schedule, stick to it, work no more and no less than planned, not forgetting to take short breaks to restore work capacity. A well-organized workplace will help in this. Of course, you can leave with a laptop in anypart of the apartment, at least in the bathroom. But your own work area and you will be adjusted to a serious mood, and the household will let know that you are busy, and not just loitering around the house without work.

Time planning is a very important part of the life of a freelancer, so you need to take it seriously. Competent time planning is the key to your success in all spheres of life, not just in work.