Being self employed is wonderful, but it comes with its own set of challenges. It’s lovely not to have anybody tell you what to do, but then nobody tells you what to do!
So here you are, with no pre-set hours and all the freedom in the world to choose what you do with your day. How do you stay productive? How do you make the best of your time?
Set clear goals
When you are on your own, it’s easy to wander around aimlessly or do a lot of things that aren’t moving you forward. In order to avoid wasting your days away, start by establishing your goals. As always, remember they need to be:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
Once you know where you want to go, you can figure out how to go there, including breakdown into actionable items. This is your first step towards spending your time wisely.
Create a routine
The freedom of doing what you want when you want comes with a poorly hidden cost: you will be tempted to just do the enjoyable things all day and you will avoid the unpleasant tasks, leading to poor work performance. The key to success here is to establish a routine. It’s doesn’t have to be as strict as when you work for a paycheck and you can choose days and hours of operations based on your own needs and preferences, but make sure you plan time for work, exercise and other activities.
When planning out your life when you are self employed, take your personal energy flows into consideration. You now have a luxury of deciding that maybe you do need that nap after lunch. Or you are a night owl and your best work happens after everybody goes to bed. Whatever it is, schedule your life based on when you can perform at your best. It may take time to unlearn years of school conditioning, but it can be done!
Prioritize tasks
Life is about prioritization. It’s impossible to have it all and do it all, so you will have to choose. Review your tasks and decide which ones really have to happens and which not so much. It’s helpful to create a task list ahead of time, so you know what your plans for the day are.
Bonus: if you can, take advantage of outsourcing of tasks. And I don’t mean just hiring somebody to clean your house. Virtual assistants can be an awesome solution for those menial tasks that you dread. They will take care of your low-value tasks while you can get back to real work (or to enjoying your life).
Minimize distractions
Every time management advice article or column sooner or later will tell you to minimize distractions. Put your phone on the airplane mode. Close your email and anything else on your computer that you don’t need at this very moment. You may also find a way to ‘close the door’ on all your home chores while working – and since nobody is there to ask if you truly put in your hours, it may be easier to say ‘I’m just going to take care of it really quickly’. Working for oneself sure takes discipline!
Take breaks
Flip side of getting distracted: you may fall victim to hyperfocus. If you are passionate about your work (as self employed individuals frequently are), you may get sucked in by your task and completely ignore the passage of time. You have to make sure that you take breaks and limit your work hours to be within reason, so you don’t burn out.
Stay accountable
When you work for yourself, you don’t have a boss who will periodically come to you (or call you into their office) to tell you that you aren’t meeting your metrics. In step one you established deadlines, but what happens when you don’t meet them? Most likely nothing. Maybe some guilty feeling. This is why it’s helpful to find ways to stay accountable to others, such as having a mentor or a peer group who will ask you about your progress. Having others around has several other benefits, such as reducing feeling of isolation, provision of external motivation, and help with questions and obstacles.
What about you? How do you manage your time working for yourself?