Productivity is key to any successful freelancing career. When you’re running a solo business, the more task you can get done on any given day, the more you can earn. Despite enjoying the freedom and flexibility of being a freelancer, it takes a lot of self-motivation to stay productive.
There are mornings when we wake up and would rather binge watch Netflix than talking to clients and working on an assigned task. There’s a lot of productivity talks out there. But do you want to know the best productivity tips that you need to adopt?
1. First Things First
As a freelancer, it is important to focus on your most important tasks first, before even thinking about doing any other things like checking email or social media.
In the morning, you’are filled with cognitive energy (get the best work done without burning out) hence spend the entire morning dedicating yourself to real, productive work. In most cases productive work includes things like generating new business leads, making new sales and working on clients’ projects.
Also Read: Getting paid for your work as a Freelancer: Myth vs. Reality.
2. Use checklists
Another simple way to increase your productivity is to have a checklist. This keeps you from forgetting any step along the way. Missing a step may make you waste more time to fix it.
So when you’re working on a project, instead of thinking about what to do next, open the checklist and start ticking tasks off. So start creating checklists for all the repetitive tasks you have.
3. Cut Out Distractions
Besides a productive work environment, you also need to cut out distractions that prevent you from staying productive. For example, turn off social media and messaging notifications.
Another way to cut out distractions is put on some headphones if there’s too much background. If people see that you have headphones on they probably won’t bother you.
4. Create A Routine
Having a routine has been proven to increase levels of productivity, but it’s not easy to do as a freelancer when your time is entirely your own. That’s why it’s crucial to learn which times of day you are most productive and stick to those times.
Including sports activity into your schedule will also boost your energy levels and help you maintain a work-life balance. For recurring events it’s easy and beneficial to have a consistent schedule, then you know where you need to be on certain days and you can organise your work around it.
5. Take Breaks
Research has found that taking frequent breaks can increase productivity and creative thinking. Breaks can also prevent stress and exhaustion. In short, it’s a win-win situation.
So at the beginning of the day, plan out what times you’re going to take your breaks at and plan how you’re going to spend those break.
6. Avoid Unnecessary Meetings
A good meeting can make the difference between a great client relationship and a terrible one. However, unnecessary meetings can end up slowing down your productivity and wasting your time.
So it’s important to identify which meetings are necessary and which issues can be sorted out with a simple phone call, conference call or video chat.
Also Read: Freelancing Tips ~ Clients Interaction Fundamentals.
7. Use Productivity Apps
As a freelancer you’re spoilt for choice with apps and management tools to help you organise your workload, so throw away that Filofax, delete those spreadsheets and check out these amazing apps!
1. For task management, Asana and Trello are fantastic apps.
2. For your invoicing needs check out this beautiful invoicing software.
3. Using Grammarly can save you from typographical errors when writing to clients.
The amount of time you’ll save using these tools will take away a lot of the administrative and improve your productivity.
Conclusion
The seven productivity tips shared in this post are proven and approved by thousands of freelancers just like yourself to help double productivity and get more work done in less time.
For you to achieve results, you need to take action and start applying the tips above in your daily routine. Do you’ve any additional tip that you will like to share? Please drop them in the comment section below.
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