By : will Kenny
Freelancers are great list makers, and it is little wonder. Running your own business, handling multiple clients and projects, leaves you with lots of things to manage and remember.
I know that I start every week, and every day, with “to-do” lists. I consider what needs to get done, what I want to achieve in a given time span. Then I generally end up with a list that is too long, and cut it down to focus on priority items.
Unfortunately, for a long time I found that items I dropped from the day’s “to-do” list didn’t really go away.
Setting Priorities . . . In Theory
Most of us freelancers are juggling several different types of projects for different clients at any given point in time. I may look at this week’s writing and see Project A, Project B, Project C, and so on.
Now, I know I have to put in some concentrated time on each project, one at a time, to be most efficient. So perhaps today I have several hours scheduled on Project A, an hour devoted to Project B, and I have dropped Project C from today’s “to-do.”
I have learned, in other words, that I will be more effective for my clients and more efficient (and profitable) with my time if I get those first couple of projects done in the first part of the week, and devote the last couple of days to wrapping up the third project.
So, having made my decision, Project C is gone, effectively, for today. It doesn’t even exist, right?
Ah, if only that’s the way the human mind worked!
When Out of Sight Is Not Out of Mind
In the past, when I took this eminently reasonable and professional approach to planning my work time, I found that as the day wore on, my thoughts turned again and again to those other tasks and projects I had supposedly crossed off today’s list. In fact, more often than not, by the afternoon you would find me “taking just a minute” to fiddle with something on Project C.
One result was a start-and-stop effort on all of my projects, producing less coherent results, less efficiently, than if I had devoted more concentrated blocks of time to each one in turn.
The other result was that it was driving me crazy! That nagging feeling that I ought to quickly tweak this or that about Project C while I was thinking about it, even though it wasn’t on my list, was a distraction at best. And when I realized that I was now neglecting my priorities for the day, that I was not making progress on Project A because Project C had somehow snared my attention, I generally felt guilty, and stupid.
So I did what anyone would do. I resolved to stick to my “to-do” list. I promised myself not to give in to the temptation to stray from the decisions I had made, the priorities I had chosen, at the beginning of the day.
Ha!
That worked about as well as promising not to watch as much television, to eat healthier foods, and to exercise more often. Determination and will power are not going to do the job.
Temptation Abounds
When you first start freelancing, you discover how many ways you can find to avoid a bit of work. Doing the laundry, checking the mailbox ten or fifteen times, or color coding your files all become vitally important!
Compared to that, doing actual work — even though it is on the wrong project — seems practically virtuous! But it isn’t, it just slows you down. And it typically lowers both the quality and the quantity of your output.
In Sight, Out of Mind
I found that the answer was to make a physical, explicit “not-do” list, to go along with my “to-do” list. Now, every day I write down the most serious work temptation that I have cut off my “to-do” list on my work log form, which I consult several times a day. Another solution would be to write, “Do NOT . . . ” with the given task on a sticky note, and put it on your monitor or your desk. It should only list the one or two things that are most likely to distract you from your chosen priorities during that day.
I find that having a clear, explicit statement that I will not tackle Project C today helps me resist temptation, and to recover more quickly when I do give in. Having that visible reminder makes a huge difference in my ability to stick to my earlier decisions, to focus on the priority projects, and most importantly, to relax and stop worrying about a project I am going to tackle tomorrow or the next day.
“To-do” lists are great tools when you are your own boss and have to manage your own work flow. But they are not completely effective for many freelancers.
Add a clear, visible “Not-do” reminder to your work environment, and you’ll find yourself more focused, efficient, and effective in your work.
Job Vacancy , Indonesia Job , Job Indonesia
Freelancers are great list makers, and it is little wonder. Running your own business, handling multiple clients and projects, leaves you with lots of things to manage and remember.
I know that I start every week, and every day, with “to-do” lists. I consider what needs to get done, what I want to achieve in a given time span. Then I generally end up with a list that is too long, and cut it down to focus on priority items.
Unfortunately, for a long time I found that items I dropped from the day’s “to-do” list didn’t really go away.
Setting Priorities . . . In Theory
Most of us freelancers are juggling several different types of projects for different clients at any given point in time. I may look at this week’s writing and see Project A, Project B, Project C, and so on.
Now, I know I have to put in some concentrated time on each project, one at a time, to be most efficient. So perhaps today I have several hours scheduled on Project A, an hour devoted to Project B, and I have dropped Project C from today’s “to-do.”
I have learned, in other words, that I will be more effective for my clients and more efficient (and profitable) with my time if I get those first couple of projects done in the first part of the week, and devote the last couple of days to wrapping up the third project.
So, having made my decision, Project C is gone, effectively, for today. It doesn’t even exist, right?
Ah, if only that’s the way the human mind worked!
When Out of Sight Is Not Out of Mind
In the past, when I took this eminently reasonable and professional approach to planning my work time, I found that as the day wore on, my thoughts turned again and again to those other tasks and projects I had supposedly crossed off today’s list. In fact, more often than not, by the afternoon you would find me “taking just a minute” to fiddle with something on Project C.
One result was a start-and-stop effort on all of my projects, producing less coherent results, less efficiently, than if I had devoted more concentrated blocks of time to each one in turn.
The other result was that it was driving me crazy! That nagging feeling that I ought to quickly tweak this or that about Project C while I was thinking about it, even though it wasn’t on my list, was a distraction at best. And when I realized that I was now neglecting my priorities for the day, that I was not making progress on Project A because Project C had somehow snared my attention, I generally felt guilty, and stupid.
So I did what anyone would do. I resolved to stick to my “to-do” list. I promised myself not to give in to the temptation to stray from the decisions I had made, the priorities I had chosen, at the beginning of the day.
Ha!
That worked about as well as promising not to watch as much television, to eat healthier foods, and to exercise more often. Determination and will power are not going to do the job.
Temptation Abounds
When you first start freelancing, you discover how many ways you can find to avoid a bit of work. Doing the laundry, checking the mailbox ten or fifteen times, or color coding your files all become vitally important!
Compared to that, doing actual work — even though it is on the wrong project — seems practically virtuous! But it isn’t, it just slows you down. And it typically lowers both the quality and the quantity of your output.
In Sight, Out of Mind
I found that the answer was to make a physical, explicit “not-do” list, to go along with my “to-do” list. Now, every day I write down the most serious work temptation that I have cut off my “to-do” list on my work log form, which I consult several times a day. Another solution would be to write, “Do NOT . . . ” with the given task on a sticky note, and put it on your monitor or your desk. It should only list the one or two things that are most likely to distract you from your chosen priorities during that day.
I find that having a clear, explicit statement that I will not tackle Project C today helps me resist temptation, and to recover more quickly when I do give in. Having that visible reminder makes a huge difference in my ability to stick to my earlier decisions, to focus on the priority projects, and most importantly, to relax and stop worrying about a project I am going to tackle tomorrow or the next day.
“To-do” lists are great tools when you are your own boss and have to manage your own work flow. But they are not completely effective for many freelancers.
Add a clear, visible “Not-do” reminder to your work environment, and you’ll find yourself more focused, efficient, and effective in your work.
Job Vacancy , Indonesia Job , Job Indonesia
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