Time management is always an important issue for freelancers, and especially so at this time of year. It always seems that November and December are a triple whammy of the winter holidays, clients realizing that they need to squeeze in the last few projects of the year, and trying to finish up all of our own goals that we set back in January, so things get out of control very quickly.
When you think about how to manage your time, I think it’s important to first look at the utilitarian viewpoint: in what ways is your current time management strategy working and not working? Are you habitually scrambling to meet your deadlines (or worse yet, habitually missing deadlines)? Not sleeping enough? Having to cancel social engagements or feeling as if you have no life outside of work? Or are things mostly working for you? What are the objective restrictions on your time; do you have many commitments to other people or is your time primarily your own?
In addition, think about what sort of time management personality you have. Do rules and guidelines make you feel confident or constrained? Do you work better in a free-form environment or in a regimented one?
Looking over my own time management strategies, I feel that I am doing fairly well from the utilitarian standpoint. I’ve never missed a deadline, I sleep at least seven hours a night, exercise for about an hour most days and I rarely work in the after-school time slot in order to spend time with my daughter, so things could be worse. On the other hand, I feel like I could be doing better on projects that don’t have an imminent deadline: I want to do more direct client marketing, finish the second edition of my book and do a good job in my new role on the ATA Public Relations committee, and I feel that better time management could really help with these.
Here are a few time management strategies that work well for me, and I would be interested to hear what works for other people:
- Use a prioritized to-do list. I rank my to-do items in high, medium and low categories so that I’m not tempted to focus on the fun but not urgent items (i.e. designing a marketing postcard, picking a new header image for my blog) rather than on the excruciating but urgent items (i.e. quarterly payroll taxes, entering receipts into my accounting software).
- Put a leash on e-mail. Unless I’m waiting for a particularly urgent message, I check e-mail only on the hour and the half hour. Then, I respond immediately to any e-mail that requires only a really short response so that I don’t have a big stack to deal with at the end of the day. Also, I have all of my e-mail list subscriptions set to the daily digest mode so that I receive only one e-mail per day from them.
- Break rules as needed. You know the “never eat at the computer” rule? I have to admit that I eat at the computer a lot, because it allows me to take exercise breaks in the morning or at lunch. I know some people think that eating at the computer is totally uncivilized and horrible (and I don’t do it all the time) but I’d rather run or do yoga at lunch time for half an hour and then eat a peanut butter sandwich while checking my e-mail when I get back. I think that the point here is to take the “always do this…never do that” rules that other people espouse and bend them to fit what works for you.
- Work during the work day. This seems like an obvious one, but when you work at home, it’s sometimes hard to ignore the phone, friends wanting to get together, and all of the myriad other things you could be doing instead of working. My policies are: no answering the home phone during the work day (people who would be calling in an actual emergency have my work and cell numbers too); only one non-work commitment (school volunteering, etc.) per day, and the commitment has to last an hour or less, and no socializing during the work day unless I can combine it with another priority item such as exercising.
- Set an overall limit on how much you are going to work. Know yourself and your capabilities; although I might really push myself for a couple of days in a row to finish a big project or do a good client a favor, I know that if I translate more than 10,000-12,000 words a week, I get tired and sloppy. So, I force myself to manage my time so that after the big push, I get at least a day off to recover and rejuvenate.
Now, over to the readers!
This might seem like an obvious advice to experienced freelancers, but young freelancers need to know: don’t set up your workspace in your bedroom. It leads to wasted time for every translator I know who has tried it.
Well, I do have my workspace in my bedroom because there is no other option. I don’t know what do you mean by “wasted time”. However, it has just shortened my sleeping time tremendously, nothing else.
This posting is so relevant at this time of year! I like your suggestion to bend the rules and do what works for you. I figured out that I work best in the early mornings so I plan my toughest tasks for that time period. I really slow down from about 2-3pm so I adjust my schedule accordingly and try not to do anything important; I often take a break at that time (which means eating through the “regular” lunch hour).
I love your idea of doing sport during the day. I am going to find a way to work that into my schedule. I need to become a bit more disciplined with my non-urgent but important tasks (working on specialist fields, re-writing my marketing collateral etc.) and I also need to monitor my time spent reading the news or blogs, and use them as “treats” once I have finished certain pressing jobs, rather than jumping on the internet within the first hour or two of work. Time management really is a skill to be developed. In fact, I’ll make it a priority in my business plan for next year!
I’ve learnt a lot from your bloc. As a translating practitioner at the very very first stage of this career, I’ll keep on learning but it takes so much time than I though it did. I’m so young in the field.
Admiration et respect, Corinne.
Sathit
Bangkok, Thailand
Kudos to an important and valuable post Corinne! I find that I have the same principles and work schedule as you. I start working at 8 when my kids are off to school. Work for about two hours until my dog stares me down and we go for a walk or run. I always fit in exercise during the day and the only social activities I do during the day are combined with exercise or lunch. I could do better volunteering in school, but I feel too stressed out if I have a weekly assignment. Instead I help out with field trip, art projects and such. My children come home from school at 3:30 and that is when my most hectic time of the day starts. Homework, chauffeuring to different activities, library, playdates, piano practices, making dinner etc.
Since I often take one long break in the day for exercise I usually end up finishing up some work tasks after he kids have gone to bed. This does not disturb me so much since I also have a husband that frequently need to finish off work at night.
Overall I think this schedule works for me. I have a to do list most every day and it feels nice to check things off. I very frequently eat lunch while working and my kitchen table often end up as my work desk. I try not to work weekends and devote them entirely to my family.
Thank you for your input Corinne! We are so fortunate to be able to make our own schedule most of the days.
Very well-writen post with lots of good info. I am with you and Paula: you have to find what works for you. For me, sometimes that varies week to week. I always find time to work out, even when I really don’t have time, as working out clears my head and gives me the benefit of a nap and the energy that comes with breathing fresh air. I do need to follow my own advice about not obessively checking e-mail every five minutes.
We typically accept fewer projects (in terms of word volume) than most of our colleagues, and that’s because we are very obsessive about our QA process, which adds another few days to every project.
BTW, I am finalizing a workshop on time management to give during 2010, and if it’s OK, I might incorporate some of your idas (with due credit, of course).
An excellent post, Corinne, with lots of good comments!
As a mother-of-four, I’ve learned to remind myself that I’m really a “part-time” professional, even as a business owner.
To manage my time, I’ve learned to:
– respond to the unexpected without losing my head,
– build flexibility into my deadlines, if possible and in case I need it,
– whenever possible, work with a trusted team, even if it is just another colleague to edit my work or whose translation I edit,
– make sure I take care of my own needs, including regular exercise and building a team of professionals who support me in my business.
Thanks for all the wisdom!
Thanks for sharing your experience!