How to Boost your Productivity as a Freelancer
“I didn’t want an unsatisfying career. And I didn’t want to commit to one place – either one company or one location. I wanted to make my own decisions.” – Rocco Baldasarre
Freelancers live by this motto. Working from home means having the freedom to do things at your own pace and on your own terms. You can anytime take up extra work to earn more and free up your schedule to enjoy a break.
But freelancing comes with its own set of issues – distraction from surroundings, lack of social interaction, messed up routines and the most dreaded one – loss of interest. How can you overcome this block and become more productive?
We have listed down 5 easy ways to boost your productivity:
Track your time:
The number one benefit of freelancing is that you are your own boss. This means no time boundaries and can easily affect your work-life balance. To increase efficiency, find the best time tracking software suitable for your needs. It will prove to be a worthy investment in scheduling your ongoing and upcoming projects better.
Tracking your time helps you establish guidelines and have better control over your time. Not having any idea about how much time a task is taking to execute is going to heavily affect your work productivity.
- Maintain a task list:
Setting goals is an effective way of increasing productivity. Make to-do lists and assign tasks as per priority and delivery deadlines. There are a lot of apps that let you do this with ease.
It is very essential for freelancers to plan their day in advance since there is no manager assigning tasks for you. This includes assigning time for breaks and client class as well.
Create a dedicated work space:
To improve your focus, invest in necessary equipment to remodel a room for creating a dedicated work space. This helps in getting in the working mindset as soon as you enter the set up.
When you have a designated work space, you can keep all the important stuff close at hand. This limits distractions and leads to lesser breaks from work.
It has been proven that a clean and clutter-free environment lets you work more effectively. You are able to think more creatively and logically if your work zone is well organized. Additionally, it becomes counterproductive to eat and drink in this space as it creates a mess.
- Reward yourself:
Working too long without taking a break can reduce your focus and affect your work quality. Once you have crossed off some of the tasks from the to-do list, reward yourself with a break. Get up and stretch, go for a short walk or have a healthy snack. You can use this time to listen to music to refresh your mind or even meditate for calming yourself.
Dedicate fixed time for checking social media activity in your breaks so you can avoid the urge to do it whilst working.
Identify major distractions:
The biggest struggle for freelancers is increased distractions and no controlling factor. To tackle this, recognize what activities are affecting your concentration the most. Is it the constant notifications on your phone? The urge to check up social media stuff? Is the noise caused by your family members?
Once you are aware, you can then find solutions for these so as to minimize getting distracted. For example, you can invest in a pair of sound cancelling headphones to avoid getting disturbed by your background noises.
Conclusion:
The successful completion of work with quality outputs is totally dependent on your focus. Implement the above mentioned hacks to achieve that and become more productive.
