5 Ways to Keep Organised as a Freelancer
I used to think organisation was either a skill you possessed or didn’t, a bit like whether you have rhythm or can roll your tongue. Turns out, organisational skills can be learned, even for those who claim to be terribly disorganised. What a win right? But, where on earth do you start? Especially as a freelancer? Let’s dive in.
As much as you like or dislike being organised, when you are a freelancer you kind of just have to jump in the deep end and learn to swim (mostly through overflowing inboxes and receipts). But, from one previously disorganised human to another, it gets better with time and practice, I promise.
Organisation as a freelancer is so much more than a tidy desk, (although I do admit, a tidy desk really does get the creativity cogs turning) it’s about knowing how long a task should take you, setting boundaries to keep your work/life balance happy and being confident at leaving each week behind in the best place possible. As with anything in life, it’s a lot of learning on the job, There are weeks where you underestimate a task and end up working until midnight and then there’s always the next tax return creeping around the corner. However, those incidents get a little more few and far between as you develop your freelance organisational skills.
Let’s take a look into 5 ways you can keep organised as a freelancer:
Productivity tools
At this rate, I’m thinking about changing my middle name to ‘productivity tool’ because I am truly that obsessed with them. Nothing gives my brain joy like a new project management system or an app to help me focus. You name it I’ve tried it. Now, not all productivity tools are made equal, but there are some out there that are worth their weight in gold.
Here are a few which have revolutionised the way I work as a freelancer:
Notion: This very blog post is being written in Notion within The Doers content calendar as I type, but that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what Notion can do. From team hubs to project management and even personal organisation like actual helpful to-do lists. You can organise your entire life on Notion if you want to!
Cron: I use Gmail for my emails, but I’ve actually decided to use Cron for my calendar, It links with my Gmail account but the interface is a lot cleaner to deal with, plus you can have it as a Desktop app. My favourite part about it? I am able to send a scheduling snippet, which allows the person I’m meeting with to choose a slot to book in time with me. The snippet automatically updates if you add any extra meetings so you can’t get double-booked. Hurrah!
Toggl: As a freelancer, I don’t charge by the hour or day. But, having a time tracking tool helps me keep organised when booking projects in. By timing myself to do tasks I am able to accurately estimate how long certain projects or tasks will take me. Spoiler alert, admin is a huge time hogger.
Set Boundaries
You may be wondering how setting boundaries counts towards being organised as a freelancer, but let me tell you, it’s actually one of the biggest ways to help organise yourself. When you first come into the world of freelancing, it feels free to be out of the 9-5 way of working. However, gradually you will begin to realise, without those boundaries, you don’t tend to work less, you actually tend to work more (and most of that time, not for more money).
Whether you’re a new freelancer or one who has been freelancing for a long time, we all can take a lesson from setting good boundaries. Boundaries help us to be profitable, less stressed, and well, more satisfied with our work. But, what do these boundaries look like?
Setting office hours, and sticking to them
Only responding to emails at certain times of the day
Staying within the scope of work
Taking scheduled time off of work
Doing whatever feels right for you
Setting these boundaries you’ll be able to help organise your work schedule so much easier, you’ll know a definitive time you work up until and a set end of a project. The best part? You’ll be happier for it too.
Find a routine
One of the many benefits of being a freelancer is being able to organise your days to suit you, although surprisingly enough at first most new freelancers do still feel chained to their desk from the hours of 9 until 5. It takes a hot minute to break free from that mentality, but by finding your own routine you can do it.
Having a routine again is beneficial to organising yourself as a freelancer, this really comes down to creating a work/life balance that works for you. Not all of us are morning people and that’s okay, it’s also okay to work in sessions and take time in the middle of the day too.
The best bet is to try a series of different ways of working and see which feels natural and easiest to produce your best work. For me I’m a 10 am starter, I’m an early riser but prefer to take the mornings slowly to myself. The best part is, that I don’t necessarily work later either, I’m able to focus and stay motivated during the day by taking that extra hour to myself in the morning.
Record your time
Hitting a timer every time you start a task does sound like a drag I’ll admit, but the data makes it so, so worth it. As I mentioned earlier, even if you don’t work by the hour or day rate, knowing how long tasks take can help you to plan your projects easier.
If I was to estimate how long everything took me I would give myself a lot less time, and in turn, add in a lot of stress when projects overrun. It’s amazing how ambitious we can be with our to-do lists every day, but having an actual record of how long say writing a blog post takes you can be ground-breaking in terms of planning.
I’m a huge fan of Toggl for tracking your time, it’s a pretty intuitive and sophisticated tool, which has a completely free version to use also!
Don’t forget your admin
As tempting as it is to ignore all those little admin bits, like doing your accounts or clearing out your emails, unfortunately, they do catch up with you in the end. Setting aside an hour or two every week to have a bit of freelancing housekeeping is my ultimate tip for staying organised. Don’t get me wrong it took me a long time to learn my lesson, but wow, it turns out being on top of your accounts makes the whole job a lot less overwhelming.
Sadly, there’s not really a productivity tool for getting it done, but a strong coffee and a good playlist will get you through!
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This post was written by our Doer, Allie. If you need Social Media advice or help, do be sure to book a 30-minute discovery call.
